Bob Gourley provides expert opinion and context on cyber conflict, including cyber weapons, in this piece by Conner Forrest:
According to Gourley, at least in the US, “offensive cyber weapons are not designed to take information, but to degrade, disrupt or destroy systems.”
Cyberwarfare, and these offensive weapons associated with it, have been around for a long time. Gourley, and others, would argue that these weapons have been around since the US Civil War, when both sides began destroying the telegraph lines that carried vital information. As technology progressed, military targets continued to be attacked, but civilian infrastructure did as well, Gourley said.
For more see: ZDnet