96
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
secrecy, high technical effectiveness, economic efficiency, possibility of application
to solve problems at strategic, tactical and operational levels, impossibility of organizing effective and reliable international control over the creation (development)
and testing of these weapons, fundamental possibility of stimulating the so-called
“rabbit effect,” when impact on a single element of an information resource of the
target object may lead to an avalanche up to the failure of the entire information or
control system of the potential adversary.
In the fundamental work by Richard A. Poisel “Information and Electronic
Warfare,” [40] theoretical and methodological foundations, mathematical models,
as well as specific technical solutions for the main types of information warfare (IW)
and the so-called electronic warfare (EW) are analyzed in detail.
Information weapons and information operations (IO) are considered as a new
approach to waging modern wars using information technologies (IT), namely, as
the next evolutionary stage of the warfighting strategy. Only those who possess more
information and are good at its processing will be able to win the modern war. Using
the Western terminology, modern cyberweapons are divided into five main types
(categories):
– Electronic weapons (EW);
– Computer network operations (CNO);
– Psychological operations (PSY OPS);
– Military deception (MILDEC);
– Operation security (OPSEC).
CNO are aimed at both active and passive attacks of various computer, information, and telecommunication networks, including mobile communication networks.
PSYORS are meant to influence the consciousness of the civilian population, not
only the population of the “enemy” country, but also their own population.
EW weapons include all aspects of building electronic systems that use electromagnetic radiation for various purposes.
Around the world, more and more industrial and social systems are managed
using computer networks (for instance, the “smart city” concept): it covers electric
power supply, heating and sewage systems, traffic management, etc. It is clear that a
successful cyberattack will cause the defender no less damage than the use of nuclear
weapons: shutdown of important infrastructural facilities will instantly cause chaos
in large cities and entire regions.
Competent experts say that at the time of this book’s release, the US government has the most professional and numerous cyberforces. For instance, Zecurion
Analytics cites the following figures: in 2017, the total budget of the American cyberforces exceeded 7 billion US dollars, and their number—9 thousand cybersoldiers.
In 2018, their number must have exceeded 10,000 people, because Paul Nakasone,
Commander of US Cybercommand at NSA, told journalists at one of the briefings
about his decision to create a new specialized unit to combat online threats from
Russian hackers.
According to some experts, the second place in this “rating” goes to China: 20
thousand cybersoldiers with an annual budget of 1.5 billion US dollars.
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
secrecy, high technical effectiveness, economic efficiency, possibility of application
to solve problems at strategic, tactical and operational levels, impossibility of organizing effective and reliable international control over the creation (development)
and testing of these weapons, fundamental possibility of stimulating the so-called
“rabbit effect,” when impact on a single element of an information resource of the
target object may lead to an avalanche up to the failure of the entire information or
control system of the potential adversary.
In the fundamental work by Richard A. Poisel “Information and Electronic
Warfare,” [40] theoretical and methodological foundations, mathematical models,
as well as specific technical solutions for the main types of information warfare (IW)
and the so-called electronic warfare (EW) are analyzed in detail.
Information weapons and information operations (IO) are considered as a new
approach to waging modern wars using information technologies (IT), namely, as
the next evolutionary stage of the warfighting strategy. Only those who possess more
information and are good at its processing will be able to win the modern war. Using
the Western terminology, modern cyberweapons are divided into five main types
(categories):
– Electronic weapons (EW);
– Computer network operations (CNO);
– Psychological operations (PSY OPS);
– Military deception (MILDEC);
– Operation security (OPSEC).
CNO are aimed at both active and passive attacks of various computer, information, and telecommunication networks, including mobile communication networks.
PSYORS are meant to influence the consciousness of the civilian population, not
only the population of the “enemy” country, but also their own population.
EW weapons include all aspects of building electronic systems that use electromagnetic radiation for various purposes.
Around the world, more and more industrial and social systems are managed
using computer networks (for instance, the “smart city” concept): it covers electric
power supply, heating and sewage systems, traffic management, etc. It is clear that a
successful cyberattack will cause the defender no less damage than the use of nuclear
weapons: shutdown of important infrastructural facilities will instantly cause chaos
in large cities and entire regions.
Competent experts say that at the time of this book’s release, the US government has the most professional and numerous cyberforces. For instance, Zecurion
Analytics cites the following figures: in 2017, the total budget of the American cyberforces exceeded 7 billion US dollars, and their number—9 thousand cybersoldiers.
In 2018, their number must have exceeded 10,000 people, because Paul Nakasone,
Commander of US Cybercommand at NSA, told journalists at one of the briefings
about his decision to create a new specialized unit to combat online threats from
Russian hackers.
According to some experts, the second place in this “rating” goes to China: 20
thousand cybersoldiers with an annual budget of 1.5 billion US dollars.