[ISN] Information Operations Multiply With the Value of Information

[InfoSec News]

http://www.afcea.org/signal/articles/templates/signal_connections.asp?articleid=1762&zoneid=220

SIGNAL Magazine
November 17, 2008

As information has increased in value with the dynamism of the 
information age, so too have operations against it. Information 
operations used to be the purview of the military, but now they have 
become an element of cyberspace in general. Thus, the threats that once 
were limited to the military realm now are appearing in civil government 
and commerce. As military-style information operations begin to wreak 
havoc in civilian cyberspace, military-style countermeasures will need 
to be deployed.

The flip side of this coin is that the military is making greater use of 
information technologies and capabilities drawn from the commercial 
sector. So, the vulnerabilities that have characterized civilian 
cyberspace now are moving into the military realm. This cries out for 
commercial solutions to protect both military and civilian information 
assets.

And the threats to cyberspace are becoming more sophisticated across the 
board. The melding of useful cyberspace capabilities has its match in 
information operations. Cybermarauders ranging from basement hackers to 
foreign governments are adopting increasingly similar methodologies. 
Information operations now are being waged by virtually anyone with 
malice of intent in cyberspace.

In some cases, diverse malevolent groups are joining forces to wage 
their own forms of information operations for profit or political gain. 
Organized crime long has known the value of hacking into financial 
databases. Their efforts could be supplemented by a hostile government 
or terrorist group that seeks to carry out operations that cripple or 
even collapse a nation.s economy. A teaming arrangement could bring each 
partner greater success in their endeavors - more money for the crime 
organization, more geopolitical impact for the hostile government.

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