Nanotechnology and Information Warfare Long-Range Challenges and Applications Christopher Altman  Pierre Laclede Honors College and Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands We already have the existence proof that nanotechnology is possible – the answer lies within all carbon-based life on earth. Philip Kuekes, HP   In an information-based society, reality is malleable. Opinions can sway in response to mass dissemination of information presented by government, media, industry, and other outlets. Information, and disinformation, become powerful weapons: applied memetic engineering. The virtual world of the internet allows unprecedented freedom of movement along this axis. Long-range national funding initiatives look to an era in which nanotechnology has become ubiquitous in the manufacture of goods and services. As envisioned, nanotechnology in effect transforms matter into software: if the idea can be imagined - within the bounds of physics - it can be transferred into matter. In this case, atoms themselves are the building blocks for manufacture. A society with the capacity to apply nanotechnology is the information society fully realized. The constraints of this ‘augmented’ reality will be limited only to our imagination. The physical world will no longer hold its monopoly on experience. Computers will transmit data not only in the form of the familiar visual and auditory information, but also in the form of tactile and olfactory stimuli. Realistic sensory experience will be the last hurdle in creating fully convincing virtual reality. Human-machine interfaces will be refined through advances in nanotechnology, in some cases directly interfacing with the nervous system. The boundaries between virtual and physical worlds will begin to blur beyond distinction. The global economy will be irrevocably fused to the internet, and the internet will be populated by intelligent agents. With so many personal interactions conducted over the net and no means to distinguish a virtual person from a real-life counterpart, these intelligent agents will be increasingly relied upon in social transactions. As the world becomes increasingly dependent upon information, it becomes ever more critical to protect the security of this data. Artificial intelligence will be an invaluable tool in the arsenal of any agency charged with developing the long-term security of the global information infrastructure.The greatest obstacle facing any intelligence network is in the capability to sift through endless stacks of data in an effort to find valuable information. How will ongoing exponential advances in the complexity of the information grid be dealt with effectively? Today webcrawlers continually scour the net in search of useful intelligence, but a human analyst is required to assess the utility of this information. Over coming decades, this demand will be reduced as advances in artificial intelligence, expert systems, and intelligent agents reach a convergence in their application to the global information network. Computer science forms a natural symbiosis with bio and nano technologies. Our models of the human brain may someday be powerful enough to match, and exceed, even our own abilities. From that day forward, human resources will no longer be the obstacle in effective intelligence and decision-making capability. When computers gain the ability to program themselves more effectively than human software developers, we will witness an explosive transition in technological acceleration. To suggest these technological changes will come without conflict is naïve, but to suggest halting their development is equally unrealistic. To no small degree, these advances will pose unique ethical dilemmas to mankind. Future technologies have the power to transform civilization into potential utopia -or dystopia - depending on society’s ability to confront the questions with maturity and tolerance. For the first time in human history, we will truly have the power to harness the engines that drive evolution.