South Asian Studies, Vol 36, No 2 (2021)

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Cyber Warfare as an Instrument of Hybrid Warfare: A Case Study of Pakistan

Tahir Mahmood Azad, Muhammad Waqas Haider

Abstract


This research paper analyses the employment of cyber warfare as a tool of hybrid warfare by focusing on the case study of Pakistan. The changing domains of war in hybrid regimes complemented by the ambiguity of cyber warfare, becomes a real destructive instrument of power. Pakistan is a developing country and the cyber space of Pakistan has numerous vulnerabilities which are exploited by our adversaries time and again. Cyber space is closely linked with hybrid warfare and it is employed by both state and non-state actors as an effective instrument of hybrid warfare. The paper begins by the challenging task of defining and briefly analysing the terms such as cyberspace, cyber warfare and hybrid warfare. The research argues how cyber warfare is being linked with hybrid warfare in contemporary times. Subsequently, it attempts to analyse the existing cyberspace of Pakistan to identify its cyber vulnerabilities and how those vulnerabilities have been exploited to undermine the national security of Pakistan through cyber warfare in a hybrid domain. Additionally, the paper highlights the major findings to underpin the requirements of guarding cyber space and concludes by underpinning the need to protect the cyber space from exploitations by multiple actors. 

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