INSTRUMENTAL CORRECTIONS FOR A DEFINITION OF CYBERWAR - Cyberwar-Netwar: Security in the Information Age - page 4

Thus, in spite of the fact that terms information war, netwar and cyberwar have
distinctions in problem areas, all of them are frequently used in parallel with the purpose
of adaptation in mass consciousness of various social layers - from government officials
to the general public.
The theoretical goal of this paper is to start a scientific discussion on the problem of
in-depth defining, specifying and structuring the conception of cyberwar.
The applied goal is to attract the attention of governments to the problem of cyberwar
for a better understanding of its different aspects, including aspects of international law,
possible political and social consequences of cyberwar and an important role that NATO
can play in an aspect of cyberwar in the Information Age. That is why this review begins
from common arguments to a move to a more detailed analysis.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained…
2. S-CURVE
The mixing of subtle shades of conceptions of information war, netwar and cyberwar
can be explained by a ubiquitous S-figurative curve (later on, simply, the 'S-curve'),
according to which today's numerous publications are a typical phenomenon of a first
period of formation of any new field of knowledge (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. S-curve and stages of formation of new conceptual norms
According to the S-curve, there are three main periods of any basic tendencies 6 :
x Stirring to action period or the period of formation
x Period of maturity or a period of rapid development and growth
x Period of repletion or extinction, that we name 'saturation'
The universality of the S-curve allows us to apply its results to basic tendencies of the
conceptions of information war, netwar and cyberwar. Therefore, we can explain the
popular use of these terms at the end of the period of formation by inflexion of the S-
curve and by a start of the second period of development of a basic tendency, when
information technologies focus on real tasks of acting in cyberspace. So, an aspect of
instrumentalism begins to play an important role not in a situation of chaotic use of new
conceptual norms, but rather in a situation of a variety of unripe technologies. In this
connection the instrumentalism is a precursor of the second stage - the period of
development.