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1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
• Information infrastructure of the society (telecommunication networks, information communication networks, data analysis and processing centers, systems and
means of information protection);
• Established system of formation, distribution, and use of state information
resources, including a media-based system aimed at shaping public consciousness;
• Rights of citizens, legal entities, and the state to receive, distribute and use
information, as well as to protect confidential information and intellectual
property.
1.1.3 Sources of Threats to Information Security
Both external and internal factors may be sources of threats to the state’s information
security.
The main sources of external threats include the following:
• Development by a number of states of the concept of “information warfare,”
envisaging the creation and use of dangerous impact on the information sphere
of other countries to disrupt its normal functioning and gain unauthorized access
to information resources;
• Activities of foreign intelligence and special services, as well as economic and
political structures in the information sphere directed against the national interests
of the state;
• Criminal activities of international terrorist groups, organizations, and individuals
in the information sphere;
• Policy of a number of countries aimed at dominating the information sphere and
restricting the access of a number of states to the latest information technologies
and equal participation in the international division of labor in the production of
informatics tools and information products;
• Strengthening of organized crime in a number of independent countries and an
increasing number of computer crimes, reducing the level of protection of the
interests of citizens, organizations, and the state in the information sphere.
The impact of the abovementioned external and internal threats on the information
sphere of the state under attack may have the following negative consequences.
1. In the field of geopolitics and international cooperation, they may result in the
loss of leadership by the state in certain areas of scientific and technological
progress. As a result, the country’s influence on the development of geopolitical
processes, its equal participation in the international division of labor and the
use of the international information market for products and services may be
reduced. The most important political, economic, and other decisions, where the
international standing of the state is decisive, will be difficult to make.
2. As for the socio-economic development of the country, a growing trend to slow
down the pace of scientific and technological progress and the transition to the
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
• Information infrastructure of the society (telecommunication networks, information communication networks, data analysis and processing centers, systems and
means of information protection);
• Established system of formation, distribution, and use of state information
resources, including a media-based system aimed at shaping public consciousness;
• Rights of citizens, legal entities, and the state to receive, distribute and use
information, as well as to protect confidential information and intellectual
property.
1.1.3 Sources of Threats to Information Security
Both external and internal factors may be sources of threats to the state’s information
security.
The main sources of external threats include the following:
• Development by a number of states of the concept of “information warfare,”
envisaging the creation and use of dangerous impact on the information sphere
of other countries to disrupt its normal functioning and gain unauthorized access
to information resources;
• Activities of foreign intelligence and special services, as well as economic and
political structures in the information sphere directed against the national interests
of the state;
• Criminal activities of international terrorist groups, organizations, and individuals
in the information sphere;
• Policy of a number of countries aimed at dominating the information sphere and
restricting the access of a number of states to the latest information technologies
and equal participation in the international division of labor in the production of
informatics tools and information products;
• Strengthening of organized crime in a number of independent countries and an
increasing number of computer crimes, reducing the level of protection of the
interests of citizens, organizations, and the state in the information sphere.
The impact of the abovementioned external and internal threats on the information
sphere of the state under attack may have the following negative consequences.
1. In the field of geopolitics and international cooperation, they may result in the
loss of leadership by the state in certain areas of scientific and technological
progress. As a result, the country’s influence on the development of geopolitical
processes, its equal participation in the international division of labor and the
use of the international information market for products and services may be
reduced. The most important political, economic, and other decisions, where the
international standing of the state is decisive, will be difficult to make.
2. As for the socio-economic development of the country, a growing trend to slow
down the pace of scientific and technological progress and the transition to the