'Shadow War'

A vast 'shadow war' is occurring among the top military intelligence forces of the world even as citizens of the various countries in the world are focused on the conventional wars they can see.

This shadow war is referred to as 'informational warfare' (IW).

All of the major powers of the world are engaged in it, and such engagement has become a necessity in a world which is dominated by 'cyber information.'

The world's military powers are spending billions on information warfare (IW), but--for obvious reasons--they don't publicize their capabilities. As a result, we only get occasional glimpses of the growing battle in cyberspace, as illustrated by Russian attacks against Estonian computer networks in 2007, and more recently, against Georgian systems during the run-up to this summer's war with the Tbilisi government. American capabilities in IW remain equally guarded, but there are occasional displays that make their way into the public arena.

Among free nations, the United States and Israel in particular make use of informational warfare to gain the upper hand in fighting terrorism and other threats, such as the growing Russian menace.

In From the Cold has more on this fascinating aspect of post-modern warfare.
(H/t to Paul Davis).