Freight and passenger trains collide. Civilian air traffic control systems go haywire. Malfunctioning pipeline-flow control mechanisms trigger oil refinery blasts. Automatic teller machines randomly credit or debit customers' accounts. Sensitive weapons systems malfunction.
Potential battlefields are anywhere.
In a military exercise involving senior Pentagon and intelligence officials last year, a scenario was mapped out in which India and Pakistan were on the verge of using nuclear weapons. The participants were asked whether America should interfere, using information warfare techniques to alter the capability of both countries so that neither had a clear picture of the battlefield. The debate was inconclusive.