Homeland security. Information Warfare. Life Sciences Assignment.

Information Warfare
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Information Warfare
How might the opening salvoes of the next war begin in the information space, and what should be done now to defend against those attacks? How might our adversaries be planning to win without fighting by using IW?Introduction
The rapid development of information technologies over the decades has led to advanced communication systems that contain a substantial amount of sensitive information. Due to this, the information systems have become a primary target for foreign adversaries who are keen to exploit any vulnerabilities in the systems. The United States has been keen to enhance its defensive mechanisms to protect the nation from any malicious attacks. The country continues to face threats from rivals such as China, Russia, and Iran. So, the Department of Defense (DOD) must maintain vigilance to prevent any intrusion. This is because Information warfare can involve a widespread attack on the nation’s critical infrastructure such as the digital systems that control transportation, communication, financial, and the power grid. Therefore, information warfare is a key part of the decision-making process when formulating national security policies. Today, information warfare is a significant national security threat for America, and the Department of Defense and Intelligence community should be at the forefront in mitigating this threat (Ventre, 2016). This paper looks at the risks present in the information space and then looks at the specific measures which could be taken to prevent these attacks.
Information warfare in the United States
Sophisticated information systems have created a new battlefront both within the intelligence and military context. Rival nations can use cyber-attacks to interfere with the information gathering capacity of another nation. In this way, they can gain an edge within the information space and use it for manipulation. These cyber-attacks can be potent as nations can use them to orchestrate dangerous attacks that may damage critical infrastructure causing economic disturbance. For the United States, cyber-attacks are listed at the top of global threats to the nation (Libicki, 2017). For example, this was acknowledged by the Director of National Intelligence during a 2018 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing. Again in 2020, before the Presidential election, the FBI director recognized the threat of information warfare by Russian intelligence agencies
Information warfare makes the global environment volatile as adversaries can use it to spark interstate conflicts. Four countries are singled out as posing the greatest cyber threat to the United States that is China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Due to America’s quest to achieve technological dominance within the global context, the country will continue to fight serious cyber-attacks daily meant to weaken America’s position within the information space. This threat even arises from non-state actors such as criminal syndicates and terrorist organizations who are determined to steal, destroy, or disrupt America’s infrastructure (Libicki, 2017). All sectors of the American economy face this threat ranging from federal, local, and state governments, corporations, and political parties.
The change of political dynamics today means the information will be a powerful weapon for rival states in the future. Being information-rich within the global society will ensure America enhances its enviable position as the superpower. America can expect a shift from the traditional wars which involved the use of force and aggression to the non-traditional war where information is used to destabilize the opponent. The nature of conflicts in the future will be drastically different than those in history. This is because adversaries will focus on exploiting vulnerabilities present in the National information infrastructure. It is will remain a primary target as America is heavily reliant on its information infrastructure. It features an interconnection of networks, information systems, telecommunications which are integrated to control critical sectors of the nation’s economy such as energy, transport, finance, and communication. These information systems are interdependent which means any potential future attack on any of these components will have a devastating impact on the economy. The threat will be even more severe as rogue states which can’t match America’s military capabilities can attack America through modern warfare in the information space. This also includes non-state actors such as terrorists, religious fanatics, drug cartels, and criminal syndicates who also don’t have similar military capabilities (Gery, Lee & Ninas, 2017). Therefore, based on this future information dynamics, the next section looks at the tactics which can be used to spark war in the information space.
The first strategy that can cause war in the information space is cyber warfare where disinformation is used to interfere with the political process of a rival state. America’s election system heavily relies on robust information systems meant to ensure a free and fair process. Due to this, adversaries can target these systems to disrupt the election process. Information warfare increase the risks of conflict as a foreign state can use disinformation to influence the political outcome and sow divisions within a nation. This was evident in the recent 2016 US election which illustrates the threat of cyber warfare in the post-Cold War World. Russia and the US have historically been involved in political power struggles. During this election, Russia used cyber-attacks to influence the outcome of the American election. Russian intelligence agencies used the ploy of disinformation to polarize the presidential poll where massive propaganda campaigns were conducted within cyberspace. The goal was to discredit the candidature of Hillary Clinton and expand the support of Donald Trump (Inkster, 2016). Russians used the following information warfare tactics to manipulate American voters. First, Russian agents did extensive research to understand the American political landscape which would be essential in determining the best way to launch attacks on social media. Through impersonating ordinary American citizens, the Russians were able to create fake social media accounts on popular sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They used these platforms to manipulate followers by taking advantage of contentious issues such as racism, religion, and immigration to create tensions and divisions among Americans. With every passing post, the criticism against Hillary Clinton intensified which included online political ads that spread false information regarding Hillary’s campaign. To mask their identities, the Russians purchased Virtual Private Networks which ensured they could deceive social media sites that the accounts were US-based. They hacked into Hillary Clinton’s and Democrats National committee emails to gain access to sensitive documents to discredit Clinton’s campaign. There was also an attempt to hack into the American election infrastructure by infiltrating voting systems and manipulate data. In the end, Donald Trump won the election. Many experts attribute Russia’s information warfare tactics such as disinformation played a significant role in helping Trump to victory. This information warfare campaign showed how adversaries can use disinformation and hacking to interfere with the electoral process and create conflicts and animosity in a nation. So, attacks by foreign adversa...