The cost of IW weapons, the components, and the relative ease of acquiring Information Warfare weapons is making it easier for proliferating countries and adversary groups to engage in malicious activities without much regard for human life or property. The coordinated effort of well-meaning groups, to stop this disruptive and destructive madness, is emphatically answered with the contentious and continuous development of faster and more lethal weapons.

(A) toxic or poisonous chemicals or their precursors;

• Disrupt communication channels between field and air. In wartime, this can play a devastating role. For instance, falsely directing fighter planes to shoot at wrong targets or ally targets, blurring the line further between “friends” and “foes.”

While continuously developing newer weapons employing IW techniques, the DoD is also forming alliances with the public and private sector to address not only technical but policy issues as well. The Defense Science Board Task Force is just one such example. It is a blend of public and private sector experts planning and recommending protective measures to the DoD. There are also several NGO’s, Think Tanks, and Independent researchers constantly studying the issues and recommending infrastructure protection and planning policy changes.

The other area of concern is the level of security implemented in the private sector, which is not as stringent as the one required by the DoD. The picture however, is not all gloomy. The DoD has security protection in place and is continuously planning to keep abreast with the changing technology. One of the latest developments by the DoD is known as the “Land Warrior”. Soldiers equipped with computers can navigate through a battle space using GPS technology, provide improved situational awareness and conduct rapid digital and voice communications. To prevent against possible IW attacks the communication is setup on a distributed network much like the Internet. This reduces the overall risks of disrupting the entire communication channel if the enemy captured one of the soldiers or there actually was an IW attack on the communication system. This is only an example of the many developments in the defense sector to make use of existing and new Information Infrastructure for both defensive and offensive reasons.

• Malicious Software Code or Viruses – The most well know of all IW weapons perhaps is the use of malicious software codes, commonly known as viruses. Different types of viruses such as Trojan Horses, Worms, etc., can be used to intrude into systems and destroy information. Some viruses cause harm almost immediately upon deploying them and others are programmed to infest systems discreetly and cause damage or erode the systems at a predetermined time. Recent examples include the “Melissa” and “ILOVEYOU” viruses.

• Implement defensive computer network attacks against intruding systems. This can be tricky given the nature of the infrastructure and the intruding methods but increasing research in this area will reveal the full defensive capability of our sophisticated information infrastructure.

Some topics in this essay:
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