IT sounds fantastic, but it is entirely possible that the next war will be fought not with bombs and bullets but with botnets and zombies.

A low-level cyber war has already begun. Only last month, US officials accused Russian hackers of trying to disrupt and undermine next week’s Presidential election.

Unlike military parades with their rows of goose-stepping soldiers, guided missiles and tanks, cyber warfare cannot be seen or heard. That’s what makes it so dangerous.

Intelligence agencies have been warning about the danger for years. Cyber warfare has been considered a greater threat than Al Qaeda or terrorism by US intelligence officials since 2013.

Yesterday, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced plans to improve Britain’s cyber security strategy, including taking greater steps to “strike back” in the face of cyber attacks.

But Governments are consistently behind the curve. No one knows how many thousands of Windows XP PCs are still used by UK authorities – despite that operating system’s well known vulnerabilities – and the US ballistic missile nuclear deterrent relies on 1970s-era floppy disks.

Can we be sure our politicians know the difference between a worm, a trojan and a DDoS attack? Regardless of whether she broke the law, Hillary Clinton’s decision to use her family’s private server for official business while US Secretary of State revealed an alarmingly blasé attitude to cyber security.

Hacking shows no respect for age. The real cyber warriors are members of Generation Z, young people who grew up with the internet. If the UK Government is serious it needs to find a way of reaching out to the hackers tempted by the “dark side”.

Because if we don’t harness their talent for the common good – we risk it being turned against us.