Since the revelations by Edward Snowden, it has been known that the internet, with its diverse possibilities for global communication and information, is a target of state surveillance. Intelligence agencies obtain a significant portion of their information, for example for supposed counter-terrorism efforts, through digital data collection. Even in war scenarios, electronic warfare is becoming increasingly important: while during the Cold War the nuclear weapons of both blocs loomed as a threatening last resort in a potential conflict, today it is information operations with geostrategic objectives that can weaken the potential of a target so significantly, even before the outbreak of open hostilities, that it may be only partially or not at all capable of defense.