This high-rise building might not look like a dangerous battleground, but it is. You see, the way nations conduct warfare is evolving.

Instead of sending in troops, tanks, and planes to duke it out on the battlefield, a country can hack into an enemy's computer networks and disrupt critical systems and vital, national infrastructure without firing a single shot. 

In a full-blown attack, cyber-militias could take out electrical power grids or shut down gas and/or water pipelines. Supply chains may be broken, leaving entire populations without fuel, groceries, or other essential supplies. Phones, hospitals, police, and other essential services might be inaccessible.

Just imagine what your life would be like if you were suddenly left without water or power--and you couldn't buy food or gas! What would you and your family do?

And this is to say nothing about the potential for chaos if banking and financial systems were taken down by hackers! It wasn't that long ago that hackers got into a payment processor's system and stole 1.5 million credit card numbers--so we're not just speaking in abstract terms here, friends.

Earlier this week, China's news agency reported on Iran's ongoing cyber assaults on Israel.

Three years ago, Israel and the U.S. jointly carried out the now-infamous Stuxnet cyber-strike against an Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz.

And now, today's NY Times features an exposé of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's unit #61398, headquartered in a 12-story building on the outskirts of Shanghai (pictured above). According to the report, this elite cyber unit of the Chinese military has been busy:

While Comment Crew has drained terabytes of data from companies like Coca-Cola, increasingly its focus is on companies involved in the critical infrastructure of the United States — its electrical power grid, gas lines and waterworks. According to the security researchers, one target was a company with remote access to more than 60 percent of oil and gas pipelines in North America. The unit was also among those that attacked the computer security firm RSA, whose computer codes protect confidential corporate and government databases.

Apparently, some rather well-known cyber-attacks have been traced back to that building and the immediate vicinity.

Read the story at: The New York Times.com