The cyber battlefield - is this the setting for the ultimate World War?

It is clear that all of the elements normally associated with conventional war exist on the cyber battlefield; these elements just have different names. Additionally, the motivations for war are different in the cyber environment. The focus is not one of territorial acquisition, but one of information piracy and information system vandalism. The one exception to this notion is that there are no equivalents to the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty of the United Nations, nor is there international computer crime legislation to reconcile international cyber incidents. Couple this with the fact that, because our networked society is relatively new and evolving, many do not understand information security issues and are not able (or do not understand the need) to protect information and information systems. This creates an opportunity for cyber guerrillas to wreak havoc. What is worse is that even if you can determine who committed the act (not an easy task), there is no recognized mechanism or process for legal retribution.