Environmental Engineering Reference
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nuclear weapons, and there is continuing interest in miniaturising nuclear weapons
and very low yield nuclear explosions. 'Improvements' to existing nuclear weapons
can be obtained from the application of nanotechnology to materials engineering
to increase 'safety' and 'usability' and the range of applications (Gsponer 2008 ).
This is potentially very dangerous, as it reduces the barriers against the use of
nuclear weapons.
Cyberweapons involve the use of computer and information technology to infl ict
injury, death and destruction, ranging from web vandalism to the destruction of
critical infrastructures, including electricity, water, transportation, communications
and fuel networks, and the infi ltration of information networks. The Russian military
used cyberwarfare to support its invasion of Georgia and deactivated the site of the
Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government websites (Hoisington
2009 ). Active 'defence' mechanisms which are 'legal' in international law require
the attacker's identity and intent to be determined, but the speed of cyber attacks
makes it almost impossible to do this in suffi cient time to take action. However,
proposals, e.g. (Hoisington 2009 ) to allow good faith responses in the absence of
this information are likely to lead to confl ict escalation.
Stuxnet, which became available in 2010, is the fi rst cyber weapon which is able
to physically destroy a military target. Stuxnet attacks industrial controllers, and the
attack in 2010 seems to have been targeted at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment
plant. It works by loading code onto particular Siemens controllers, but this code is
only activated when triggered by complex timer and process conditions. Microsoft
security patches do not resolve the problem, and requiring a digital signature to
verify legitimacy would be the best solution (Langner 2011 ).
4.3
'Conventional' Weapons
There are no internationally agreed defi nitions of small arms and light weapons, but
they comprise portable weapons, with small arms generally operated by individuals
and light weapons by a crew. They are used by all armed forces, including for
self-protection, short range combat and against tanks or aircraft at relatively short
distances. There are more than 600 million small arms and light weapons in circula-
tion worldwide, and they have had a signifi cant role in most major confl icts (Pike
2013 ), particularly in Africa, though there has also been some use of heavy weapons.
A wide variety of different small arms have been found in African arms collection
programmes, but the most commonly used weapons are the Kalashnikoff assault
rifl e and its derivatives. These weapons are generally imported from outside Africa
(IANSA et al. 2007 ). Despite their small size, small arms and light weapons have
been responsible for between 60 and 90% of direct confl ict deaths (Wille and Krause
2005 ). The proportion of direct deaths is generally greater when civilians are directly
targeted and small arms and light weapons are more readily available than other
weapons. They also contribute to a large number of indirect confl ict deaths through
disease, starvation and the destruction of health infrastructure (Krause and Mutimer
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