The Total Information War

GPS satellites are expected to continue to play a major role as the conflict unfolds. "The military relies on the Global Positioning System to direct the kind of precision-guided 'smart bombs' that were used in the opening air assault on Iraq early this morning local time," The San Francisco Chronicle reported. "Such guided weaponry is a key element in the Pentagon's "shock and awe" plan to overwhelm Iraq's defenses. GPS receivers also are widely deployed among ground forces, allowing them to better navigate the desert terrain and track their precise locations, even during blinding sandstorms."
• The San Francisco Chronicle: GPS Essential For Success of U.S. Military Effort in Iraq

While satellites are helping to transmit communications for the battle, another system has already been put to use in the early stages of battle. The Patriot missile -- a system used during the first Gulf War in 1991 to thwart incoming missiles, but with debatable accuracy -- was already used successfully today to intercept at least one rocket fired by Iraq into Kuwait, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The Patriot has been revamped since the first Gulf War and has better sorting power to target dangerous incoming attacks. Reports from Kuwait early today said that a Patriot missile successfully intercepted an incoming Iraqi missile.
• The Associated Press via The New York Times: U.S. Troops Intercept Scud Missile Fired By Iraq (Registration required)

The Internet's First War?

In the initial hours of the U.S.-led attacks in Iraq, people worldwide turned to television news and video pictures to catch a glimpse of the first stages of the war. But unlike the first Gulf War, the Internet is playing a powerful role in helping spread information and news about the conflict. A slew of news organizations are launching Internet-only features on the war and others are using streaming video and audio content via the Web to broadcast information. Washington Post technology columnist Leslie Walker reported today of the onslaught of media outlets bolstering their Internet news operations: "CNN yesterday launched the Internet's first all-news streaming radio station, a free offering designed to pipe audio from the Persian Gulf to desk-bound American office workers. Last week ABC News created the Internet's first live video news channel, a $5-a-month service that will test people's willingness to pay for live news on their PCs. CBS News and MSNBC.com, meanwhile, are boosting the amount of free video they plan to offer online. CBS also says it will station a writer for the Internet at its new 'war desk' 10 feet behind Dan Rather. MSNBC.com has sent its international Web editor to file special online reports from the Gulf."
• The Washington Post's Leslie Walker: A Medium Meets Its War

USA Today reported: "Radio had World War II. Television had Vietnam. Cable TV had the Gulf War. Now, the Internet may have the U.S. war with Iraq. ... Reporters and producers with wireless laptops and handheld digital cameras will file reports from battlefields and military installations. Cameras are at key locations for live feeds 24 hours a day. Interactive, 3-D maps will update troop movements, casualties and weapons used." "You're combining the speed of television with the depth of print," Mitch Gelman, executive producer of CNN.com told USA Today. "This could define how future wars are covered."
• USA Today: Iraq War Could Herald A New Age Of Web-based News Coverage
• CNET's News.com: Reuters To Stream Video of Iraq Conflict

Web Traffic Up

Web traffic surged as the Iraq war began, according to initial reports. "But the limited nature of the assault, and the timing of the strike -- which came late on Wednesday evening in the United States when many Americans were at home watching television rather than in front of their computers at work -- meant that any fears of Internet gridlock and outages appeared to be unfounded. Yahoo Inc.'s news site saw about three times more traffic than it would have in a typical hour directly after President Bush told Americans in a speech that the United States had launched a war with Iraq, according to spokeswoman Joanna Stevens," Reuters reported.
• Reuters via washingtonpost.com: Start of War Leads to Jump In Web Traffic

The BBC reported that the surge in Web traffic has caused some sites to slow. "Net users eager for news of the conflict are turning to the web to keep up with the latest developments. But the flood of visitors is proving too much for some the Web sites run by news organizations, government departments and branches of the military. Firms that monitor the responsiveness of Web sites are already reporting that some are taking much longer than usual to appear," the news site said.
• BBC News Online: Iraq Conflict Hits Websites Hard

Blogging On The War

Web logs -- online collections of personal opinions, commentary and links to various Web and news sources -- are another tool that was not around in the first Gulf War. In addition to mainstream media Web sites, individuals running blogs have already been featuring a slew of links to war-related coverage. Blogs, such as little green footballs and InstaPundit.com, have been active in posting updates on war-related developments. Some mainstream media outlets are capitalizing on the popularity of war-time blogs. For example, USA Today has a blog. Slate.com has a feature called "The War on the Web," linking to other coverage, and washingtonpost.com is filing short updates on its Iraq Dispatches page.

Hackers Already Launch War-Themed Worm

Some computer security companies are warning about a new e-mail worm -- called the Ganda worm -- "that feeds on public interest in the war against Iraq." The worm hides in an e-mail attachment with various subject lines such as "Spy pics" and "GO USA!," BBC News online reported. "Some of these claim to contain pictures of Iraq taken by US spy satellites and others offer screensavers mocking President Bush," the news agency said.

McAfee lists a warning about the worm on its Web site. According to McAfee: "This mass-mailing worm sends itself to email addresses harvested from the Windows Address Book and files on the victim machine. The worm kills certain processes running on the victim machine. The worm also parasitically infects PE files on the Windows machine. Infected files will increase in size by 567 bytes. The files do not replicate themselves - the infection serves only to relaunch the worm. Files infected in this manner are detected as W32/Ganda by the specified engine/DATs."
• BBC News Online: E-mail Virus Exploits War Interest
• Australia's The Age: E-Mail Worm Attempts To Exploit Interest In War
• U.K.'s vnu.net: Worm Turns On Iraq Conflict Fears

In other cybersecurity news, Microsoft's Windows operating system cannot catch a break. The bug-prone system had a newfound vulnerability, which the company issued a patch for yesterday. The glitch could "allow an attacker to run programs on a computer running Microsoft Windows. The attacker would first have to send you an e-mail message or entice you into visiting a malicious Web site," Microsoft said.
• The Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: Windows Users Warned About Software Flaw
• CNET's News.com: Windows Flaw Opens PCs To Attack

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