Bruce Schneier wrote a timely article on cyberwar and the need for treaties to govern the use or misuse of these new technologies. While I agree that cyberwar is going to increasingly become a concern in our world, I hate to point out that it’s going to be impossible to come to any sort of an agreement for control insofar as its use is concerned.

With the traditional weapons arms race, regulation and enforcement are easy. It’s hard to hide an aircraft carrier from satellite surveillance; when a nation invades another it’s obvious who the parties are. This is not the case with cyberwar. The weapons are invisible, easily and cheaply bought and sold, and the parties involved are often anonymous (pun intended).

An article on c|net discusses how IPv6 could make it difficult to find criminals, and I agree. But IPv6 is necessary for the internet to continue on, so it’s a catch-22. I’m not here to prognosticate how this will all pan out and I don’t pretend to have a crystal ball. But while we’re discussing this topic and trying to find a solution, here’s a video I feel is pertinent to the conversation.

Edit 3/20/13: I’ve since discovered a good resource for criminal and sociological data at Criminal Justice Schools.  Take it for what it’s worth.