cyber weapons
Code-based attack tools
Cyber weapons are software tools or code designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, or infrastructure.
Unlike conventional weapons, they attack digital rather than physical targets—though effects can spill into the physical world when critical systems are compromised.
Examples include malware, viruses, and exploits targeting vulnerabilities: The Stuxnet worm that damaged Iranian nuclear centrifuges was among the first publicly known cyber weapons.
Nations increasingly develop cyber weapons alongside traditional military capabilities.
- malwareHarmful computer programs
- exploitNotable act or abuse
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- wormLimbless soil invertebrate
- payloadCarried freight or charge
zero-day · hack · breach · denial of service · firewall · ransomware · botnet · command and control · phishing · spyware · backdoor · code · attack · infiltrate · surveillance · state actor · nation state · digital
- weaponsknife, gun, sword, swords, rifle
- cyberattacksmalware, phishing, ransomware, hack, virus
- Cyberwarfarecyberattack, cyberwar, cyberdefense, state actor, state actors
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- Weaponryrifles, shotguns, grenades, missiles, bombs
- arms tradearms trade, arms exports, arms dealer, arms trafficking, arms deals
cyber weaponsconventional weapons
Non-WMD military equipment
bombs · missiles · firearms · explosives · artillery
cyber weaponscybersecurity
Protection of digital systems
firewalls · antivirus software · encryption · security patches · network security
cyber weaponsproductivity software
Programs for work tasks
assistive technology · creative software · communication tools · open-source software · educational technology
cyber, weapon, weapons, cyberspace, cybernetic, cybernetics, cyborg, weaponry, weaponize