Title: Information Warfare: Combating the Threat in the 21st Century
Subject: Information Warfare
Author(s): Mary M. Gillam; Timothy Ryan (Faculty Advisor)
DTIC Keywords: COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS, COMBAT FORCES, COMBAT INFORMATION CENTERS, INFORMATION PROCESSING, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INFORMATION TRANSFER, THREAT EVALUATION, THREATS, WARFARE
Abstract:
As we approach the dawn of the 21st century, success of our national
security strategy will depend greatly on our ability to combat the
Information Warfare (IW) threat. Old paradigms regarding conventional
warfare must change to incorporate this new form of warfare. Our
nation's growing dependency on information and information-based
technologies has made IW a legitimate weapon for potential adversaries.
The "information" and its support infrastructures are becoming extremely
vulnerable to hostile attacks. Adversarial forces can now wage
information-based warfare from anywhere in the world, and literally remain
anonymous. Thus, our ability to recognize and defend against this new
form of warfare is paramount to the survival of our national security
infrastructure.
The thesis of this research project is predicated upon the following
premises: First, the exploitation of "information" as a weapon is
changing the nature of warfare. Second, although there is much debate
about the reality of the IW threat, this paper postulates that adversarial
IW tactics pose a legitimate threat to our national security infrastructure.
Finally, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Joint Staff, and the
Services must remain actively committed to combating the IW threat in
the 21st century.