Cyberlove vs. Cyberwar

More proof that "cyberwarfare" is getting democratized and widely practiced: estranged couples in India wage it regularly. The Times of India has more: Estranged couples engage in ugly cyber war AHMEDABAD: When Shilpa Patel, a corporate executive, started getting calls from across the globe with unknown men making lewd suggestions, she suspected her estranged NRI ...

More proof that "cyberwarfare" is getting democratized and widely practiced: estranged couples in India wage it regularly. The Times of India has more:

More proof that "cyberwarfare" is getting democratized and widely practiced: estranged couples in India wage it regularly. The Times of India has more:

Estranged couples engage in ugly cyber war

AHMEDABAD: When Shilpa Patel, a corporate executive, started getting calls from across the globe with unknown men making lewd suggestions, she suspected her estranged NRI husband to be behind it. She soon found out he had changed her profile on a social networking site, giving her mobile number and listing out all the "services" she could offer. Shilpa has filed a complaint with the cyber crime cell here. 

Ex-flames and spurned lovers have increasingly started abusing social networking sites to harass former lovers or wives. Police say they get four to five such complaints every month. "Most complain about glaring changes in their profiles without their knowledge," said a police officer. 

"In Shilpa’s case, trouble started when she demanded that her husband stay out of her life. He knew her password, changed contents of her profile and branded a prostitute," said a cyber crime cell official. "We have removed her profile, but we can’t arrest the culprit as he is not in the country."…

If this is the kind of cyberwar that the future cyberczars are supposed to fight, well, something IS really wrong with our terminology!

Evgeny Morozov is a fellow at the Open Society Institute and sits on the board of OSI's Information Program. He writes the Net Effect blog on ForeignPolicy.com
Tag: War

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.