The world has witnessed two world wars, civil wars, and several other inter-nation wars. Every country has their own set of strategies, procedures and operations to approach such situations. Some approach it with a bang and declare war, while some prefer a mutual settlement beneficial for both parties. Information warfare has enormous political, technical, operational, and
legal implications for the military. Therefore, here we will try to define IW, identify potential military uses and applications, as well as the problems that are responsible for the implementation of this new doctrine.
What is Information Warfare?
Now such terms can be quite hard to process. And such concepts like politics and military already scare the eyeballs out of us as the thoughts of world war flood our brains. So to narrow it down, Information warfare (IW) is a deliberate attempt to undermine and disable the enemy’s command and control infrastructure with the goal of securing and coordinating the operations of the friendly forces’ command and control infrastructure.
- Gathering tactical information,
- Verifying the veracity of information,
- Disseminating propaganda and false information to manipulate the opponent and the public
- Lowering the caliber of the opponent’s information
- And preventing the opponent from gathering information are all examples of information warfare.
Electric Warfare
These electromagnetic signals are interfered with or eliminated through electronic warfare. These could be jamming techniques and electronic countermeasures used to interfere with military communications or weapon guidance systems. An effort is made to interfere with or divert the enemy’s electronic systems, including their communications and radar networks. In order to obstruct navigation, it may also involve faking GPS signals, damaging computer circuits remotely, and blocking radio communications.
We are all too aware with internet-based cyberattacks against digital networks that can render companies unable to function.
Information warfare was used in previous periods, at least in terms of practical application. In order to implement foreign policy, for instance, airplanes would drop leaflets or other materials over towns or villages throughout the industrial era. These mediums were utilized in information warfare as the industrial period gave way to the radio and television era.
Today, digital media is used in almost all essential projects. Examples of contemporary information warfare include attempts to protect IT systems against cyberattacks as well as offensive tactics to infiltrate or impede an adversary’s IT infrastructure.
Social Media as Information Warfare
Social media is a rising concern in information warfare due to the spread of misinformation there and the illusion truth effect. The illusion truth effect claims that information is more likely to be seen as true after repeated exposure. Artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of producing articles with incorrect information that are subsequently made available to the general audience.
Social media being the primary channel.
This invasion of misleading information will undermine trust in the sources from which people get their news, eroding faith in democracy in a similar manner. With the use of social media, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, misinformation might be spread and understood quickly.
The development of technology capabilities will further integrate social media into information warfare during the next ten years, in novel and perilous ways. The US must study social media’s use in information warfare and incorporate it into its strategies if it is to be effective. This essay will show how the illusory truth effect and misinformation may make social media an effective instrument for information warfare.
When you combine social media, fire, and opinions, you get Twitter. Twitter is a forever hot, active, and bubbling with people throwing shade at the other, popping their own trumpet, attacking a whole group of individuals because one person made a lousy comment. So. Basically a very “interesting” place to say the least.
Lately with everything going on with Elon Musk, many have come at him claiming it to be a
‘Ongoing information warfare campaign”
Another recent ocassion that the netizens are claiming as an IW is Donald Trump’s overturn.
“The New Face Of War”
For defense planners and politicians, information warfare (IW) constitutes a quickly developing and, as of yet, ill-defined topic of considerable concern. The so-called information revolution, which is being driven by the continuing rapid development of cyberspace, microcomputers, and related information technologies, is the source of both fascination and uncertainty in this sector. The American defense establishment is adapting quickly to seize the new opportunities created by these changes, much like the American society as a whole. Additionally, potential and existing U.S. adversaries (as well as friends) are interested in using the developing global information infrastructure and related technologies for military operations.
- China’s Cyber Attacks
The fact that over 80,000 cyberattacks followed the demonetisation of banknotes in November 2016, while over 40,000 cyberattacks followed Sino-India clashes in Galwan, aimed at stealing sensitive information, is significant evidence that Chinese cyberattacks have been in sync with internal developments in India.
On the India-China border, a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet belonging to India crashed in May 2017. The tragedy was caused by a cyberattack while the plane was in the air, according to an inquiry by the Indian Air Force.
- Russia vs Ukraine
Both Russia and Ukraine make considerable use of social media to share their views of the events as they happen and amplify opposing narratives about the war, including its origins, effects, and continuation. Information is now being uploaded on a variety of platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Telegram, by government officials, ordinary residents, and state agencies. It can be challenging to estimate the precise volume of stuff that these different actors have posted, but there is a staggering amount of information on the battle being shared on social media. For instance, videos from a variety of sources on TikTok with the hashtags #Russia and #Ukraine had accumulated 37.2 billion and 8.5 billion views, respectively, in just the first week of the war.
This review should include elements like strategic target sets, IW effects, and concurrent vulnerability and threat assessments. Without such a risk assessment, there is no solid basis for presidential decisionmaking on strategic IW issues in a context of dynamic change in cyberspace threats and vulnerabilities.
However, it must be recognized that strategic IW is a relatively new idea that is posing a whole new set of issues. These issues may very well be resolved, but only with the wise and educated use of the limited energy, money, leadership, and other resources that this study aims to inspire.
