The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which Stuxnet can be characterized as a new war, if at all. The cyber-attack is studied within the theoretical framework of Mary Kaldor’s ‘New and Old Wars’, where the case has been analysed through the perspective of both conventional and modern wars. Stuxnet is the first cyber-attack that has managed to act in complete secrete during a long period of time and causing its target physical destruction, while hiding all the evidence that could lead to the malware. The significance with Stuxnet is not merely based on its sophisticated operation but rather to the selection of its target, which is the Iranian nuclear enrichment program. The cyber-attack has raised questions of vulnerability and lack of securitization that the world faces in these situations. Nonetheless, it is rather difficult to prepare and secure ourselves from such attacks, if we do not understand their nature.
After examining the aim, the actors involved and the method of Stuxnet, it becomes clear that that the cyber-attack contain features from both old and new wars.