You're a real trooper

In further evidence of the advanced state of human evolution that is represented by the online community, the way in which we collectively respond to the threat of viruses, hackers, and other malicious activity has been categorised as the highest order of warfare.  The recently retired Col Thomas Hammes, ex-US Marine Corps expert in counter-insurgency warfare, described yesterday (podcast 9.6MB) the generations of war:

• generation one and two require a response from part of a military force
• generation three requires an all-of-military response
• generation four requires an all-of-Government response (pretty serious)
• generation five requires an all-of-SOCIETY response (whoa).

The closest we have to a fifth generation example is how we deal with the online terrorist.  So if you use anti-virus software, you are a trooper - and an active part of our highly evolved society. Cool.