The dawn of cyber war

The recent events regarding Wikileaks and their senior editor, Julian Assange has been described by some as the first cyber war, albeit a very small one. News agencies have been reporting how after Assange handed himself in to British police, supports of Wikileaks began crashing sites such as Amazon, Visa, Paypal and Mastercard. There were even protests outside the British embassy calling for his release.

The communication cables published by Wikileaks has left many world leaders and politicians highly embarrassed which is why Mr. Assange needs the best possible west London solicitor. However Mr. Assange is wanted by two countries. Sweden is hoping to extradite him on charges of sexual assault and in America they can’t decide what to charge him on but they want him nevertheless.

Supports of Assange will argue that the internet is the last true place of freedom of speech. They believe that Wikileaks has the right to publish whatever material they like. If the American government therefore tries to stop Wikilekas from publishing material, it is an attack on freedom of speech.

Opponents will argue that the general public already has a good idea about what goes on behind doors in the world of politics and the press is able to find out plenty by their own means. Therefore it is argued that by publishing this information, Wikileaks is putting lives at risk.

Solicitors in London could debate the matter for days on end. Whatever happens with Assange there are only a couple of things we can be certain of. The first is that he is going to need a very strong legal team. The second thing for sure is that he not the first and will not be the last person to embarrass political leaders around the world. Others will pick up where he left of and rumour has it that his next big leak concerns America’s biggest bank.

Heads have only just begun spinning. More people will be exposed and once exposed west London lawyers will be thanking Wikileaks for all the new clients they provided. For many people Wikileaks exposed to the public what they already suspected, confirming the deep rooted mistrust between countries.

Is this going to make relations better between countries? Well it is still early on but at this stage it can go one of two ways. One, it helps countries resolve difference and improves dialogue between the two. The second way is escalation. Countries spy more on one another and the web of lies extends and grows. Wikileaks may have just ignited the fuse to the world’s first public cyber war.

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