1.2 Basics of Information Warfare
17
and individual consciousness, according to the political strategists). In public media,
the state of development of psychophysical and neural weapons is much-publicized
(in comparison with cyberweapons). Psychophysical weapons are a combination of
various methods and means (technotronic, psychotropic, suggestive, cognitive, etc.)
of latent violent impact on the human subconscious in order to modify it (and as a
result, the human consciousness), behavior and mental state in favor of the attacking
party (state, group of individuals, “superman”). Psychophysical weapons are just one
of the many varieties of information-psychological weapons [7–9].
Speaking of terminology, the most common definition, according to the authors
of [5], is the following: “Information weapons are various means of information
influence on equipment and people in order to solve the problems of the attacking
party.”
Information weapons (cyberweapons) also have some important qualitative
characteristics that distinguish them from all other known weapons:
– Versatility: use of cyberweapons does not depend on climatic and geographical
conditions, season of the year, time of day, etc.;
– Secrecy: creation and use of large groups of military equipment and manpower
are not required;
– Technical effectiveness: although the action of cyberweapons is impossible to
reliably record (visually document), the results of their impact on the attacked
side are comparable to those of the weapons of mass destruction;
– Economic efficiency: development of cyberweapons, the mechanisms of preparation and use require significantly lower costs as compared to other types of
weapons;
– Possibility of application to solve problems at strategic, tactical, and operational
levels;
– Impossibility of effective and reliable control over the creation (development) and
testing of information weapons. At the time this book was published, not a single
documented fact of IW use was officially established;
– Possibility of stimulating the so-called “rabbit effect,” when impact on a single
element of an information resource leads to an avalanche up to the failure of the
entire information or control system.
One more aspect to take into account: the rate of improvement of any type of
offensive weapon throughout the history of its development has always been ahead
of the pace of development of defense and countering technologies. Information
weapons are no exception to the rule.
According to the intended purpose, information weapons are divided into two
large groups [6, 10]: defensive and offensive.
Offensive information weapons are aimed at influencing the adversary’s decisionmaking system by covertly damaging its most critical components.
Defensive information weapons are aimed at defense in a multi-level information
war. They include multi-level information security and appropriate countermeasure
systems.
17
and individual consciousness, according to the political strategists). In public media,
the state of development of psychophysical and neural weapons is much-publicized
(in comparison with cyberweapons). Psychophysical weapons are a combination of
various methods and means (technotronic, psychotropic, suggestive, cognitive, etc.)
of latent violent impact on the human subconscious in order to modify it (and as a
result, the human consciousness), behavior and mental state in favor of the attacking
party (state, group of individuals, “superman”). Psychophysical weapons are just one
of the many varieties of information-psychological weapons [7–9].
Speaking of terminology, the most common definition, according to the authors
of [5], is the following: “Information weapons are various means of information
influence on equipment and people in order to solve the problems of the attacking
party.”
Information weapons (cyberweapons) also have some important qualitative
characteristics that distinguish them from all other known weapons:
– Versatility: use of cyberweapons does not depend on climatic and geographical
conditions, season of the year, time of day, etc.;
– Secrecy: creation and use of large groups of military equipment and manpower
are not required;
– Technical effectiveness: although the action of cyberweapons is impossible to
reliably record (visually document), the results of their impact on the attacked
side are comparable to those of the weapons of mass destruction;
– Economic efficiency: development of cyberweapons, the mechanisms of preparation and use require significantly lower costs as compared to other types of
weapons;
– Possibility of application to solve problems at strategic, tactical, and operational
levels;
– Impossibility of effective and reliable control over the creation (development) and
testing of information weapons. At the time this book was published, not a single
documented fact of IW use was officially established;
– Possibility of stimulating the so-called “rabbit effect,” when impact on a single
element of an information resource leads to an avalanche up to the failure of the
entire information or control system.
One more aspect to take into account: the rate of improvement of any type of
offensive weapon throughout the history of its development has always been ahead
of the pace of development of defense and countering technologies. Information
weapons are no exception to the rule.
According to the intended purpose, information weapons are divided into two
large groups [6, 10]: defensive and offensive.
Offensive information weapons are aimed at influencing the adversary’s decisionmaking system by covertly damaging its most critical components.
Defensive information weapons are aimed at defense in a multi-level information
war. They include multi-level information security and appropriate countermeasure
systems.