The Impact of Information Warfare

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THEIMPACTOFINFORMATIONW

ARFAREIN

NIGERIA

AdedayoStephen

TheImpactofInformationWarfare 1


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Overview


1. Introduction

2. Definitions

3. MilitaryViewof InformationWarfare

4. Civilian Viewof InformationWarfare

5. ImpactofInformationWarfareonMilitary Sector

6. Impactof

Information

Warfare

on

Private

Sector

7. SecurityMeasures

8. CharacteristicofCyberWar

9. InterviewResult

10. Conclusion

11. References


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1.0Introduction Informationtechnologyhasbroughtalotchangestothewaywarfarearebeingwage

today,agreat

number

of

the

national

infrastructures

in

the

developed

nation

greatly

dependonIT.Theeconomic,social,political,educational,powerandotheractivitiesdependonit.Computersnowcontrolsmostofthecivilianandmilitaryinfrastructure,includingcommunication,powersystems,sewageregulation,andhealthcareandovertwomillioncomputersarebeingusedbytheUSmilitary(Melnick,2007).Libicki(1995)stated,informationwarfareisamilitarywordwhichcanbecategorizedinto;psychologicalwarfare,intelligencebasedwarfare,electronicwarfare,cyberwarfare,

commandand

control

warfare,

economic

information

warfare

and

hacker

warfare.

Internetisnowaverypowerfultoolfortrade,nationalandfinancialdevelopment,itisthelargestcomputernetworkintheworldcomprisingofsmallernetworks,formingthebackbonefordatatransmissionacrossthewholeworldbecauseofthelevelofitsgreatredundancy.ThereliabilityoftheInternethasgeneratedasignificantriseinthevulnerabilityofthenetwork(SecurityFocus,2008).Today,informationwarandcyberwar

cover

wide

area

of

conflict

types

ranging

from

economic,

social,

political,

and

civilian

tomilitaryscopes.Cyberwarfareisgenerallyreferredtoastheuseofinformationtechnologydevicestowedgewarinacommunicationmedium.



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1.0Introduction (contd)

Cyber

criminals

now

targets

national

infrastructures,

such

as

public

healthsystem,transportation,emergencyservices,waterandsewage,energy,oilandgassystem,financeandbankingsystem,massmedia,andmilitarycommandandcontrol (Wik,2000). Ifcybercriminalsareabletosucceedintheirattacksbydisruptingorstoppingtheessential

informationnetworks

then,

anational

disaster

and

economic

loses.

TheimpactoftheinformationwarfareanditsassociatedriskisveryhighbasedontheincidentreportstoComputerEmergencyResponseTeamCoordinationCenter(CERT/CC)(CERTStatistics,2009).

Pati(2007)

stated,

cybercrime

incidents

reported

can

be

categorize

as

;casesinvolvingindividualslikeprovocationthroughemails,cyber

stalking,slander,hacking,crackingandoffensivedisclosure.Casescorporateorganizationreportedarecomputerdamage,intruding,hacking,cracking,cyberterrorism,andvirusdissemination.



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2.0Definitions

InformationWarfarehasmanydefinitions.

Haeni(1997)defineIWas;Actionstakentoachieveinformationsuperioritybyaffectingadversary

information,informationbasedprocesses,informationsystems,andcomputerbasednetworkswhile

defendingone'sowninformation,informationbasedprocesses,informationsystems,andcomputer

basednetworks.

Informationwarfareisreferredtoby Nunes(2001)astoperformthesametasksweusedtoperform

butatamuchfasterratebyoccasionallyusingequipmentderivedfromoursocietystechnological

evolution.

Littleton(1995)

in

his

thesis

stated

that

Information

based

Warfare

is

an

approach

to

armed

conflict

focusingonthemanagementanduseofinformationinallitsformsandatalllevelstoachievea

decisivemilitaryadvantageespeciallyinthejointandcombinedenvironment.

Otherdefinitionusedinclude,Cyberwarreferstoconducting,andpreparingtoconduct,military

operationsaccordingtoinformationrelatedprinciples.(Arquilla&Ronfeldt,1997)

ThewordNetwarwasusedbyreferstoinformationrelatedconflictatagrandlevelbetweennations

orsocieties(Arquilla&Ronfeldt,1997)



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3.0TheMilitaryViewOfInformationWarfare.


Information

warfare

is

referred

to

as

war

without

armoredtank.A21stcenturycyberwarriorutilizesdigitalequipments;helmetwithdigitaldisplayunit,nightvisionsensor,flatvideopanel,computersystem

withchemical

and

bomb

detector,

Global

Positioning

System GPS(Haeni,1997). Theintegratedwirelessandthethermalsightsystemallowseasytrackingofthe

soldierin

the

battlefield.

Today

the

military

uses

the

command,control,communication,computerandintelligenceusuallycalledC4Iininformationwarfare.


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3.0The

Military

View

of

InformationWarfare.(contd)

Soft

war

is

another

form

of

information

warfare

used

by

themilitary;theaimistowrongfullyinformtheenemywithfalseormanipulatedinformation.Thesecouldbeinfromoftelevisionbroadcastincombinationwith

signaljamming(Haeni,

1997).

Cyber

warfare

is

possible

withouttheloseof livesorequipment(Kelsey,2008).

Informationwarfare consistofoffensive,defensiveand

passivecomponents(DeVries,

1997)



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3.1OffensiveInformation

Warfare

Thisis

define

as

taking

full

control

of

the

enemys

information,computerandcontrolsystemsusinginformationweapons.OffensiveWeaponsinclude:

computer

virus,

logic

bombs,

worms,

trajan

horses,

back

doors,trapdoors,chipping,electronicjamming,HERFguns,nanomachines,andmicrobes(Haeni,1997).Thetoolscanbeinformofsoftwarecodeorhardwaredevice

withability

to

perform

dangerous

operation,

which

can

causepartialortotalbreakdownoftheenemyscomputersystem,infrastructureornetworks.

10TheImpactofInformationWarfare


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3.2 DefensiveInformationWarfare

Themainsecuritymeasuresemployedindefensive

Information

warfare

are

physical

security,

electronics

countermeasureandencryptionmethods.Henceprotectingsystemavailabilityanddataconfidentialityareveryimportant.(Kaomea,n.d).Countermeasures

usedin

modern

day

Information

warfare

are

intrusion

detectorsystems,antivirussoftware,encryption,vulnerabilityscannersandsecurityanalysissoftware

(Hrovat,

2001).



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3.3Passive

Information

Warfare

Passiveweaponsareharmless,consistingofsurveillance

equipment

used

in

information

warfare,

an

example

is

duringthebuildingoftheU.S.EmbassyinMoscowinthe1980s,whentheSovietworkersburiedthousandsofelectronicdiodesintotheconcreteslabsforthepurpose

ofsecret

surveillance.

This

weaponry

does

not

leave

anytraceorharmfuleffectonthevictims.(Schwartau,1996)



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3.4Information

Weaponries

"Avirusisacodefragmentthatcopiesitselfintoa

larger

program,

modifying

that

program.

A

virus

executesonlywhenitshostprogrambeginstorun.Thevirusthenreplicatesitself,infectingotherprogramsasitreproduces."(Russell&Gangemi,2006)

"Aworm

is

an

independent

program.

It

reproduces

by

copyingitselfinfullblownfashionfromonecomputertoanother,usuallyoveranetwork.Unlikeavirus,it

usuallydoesn't

modify

other

programs."

(Russell

&

Gangemi,2006)



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3.4InformationWeaponries

(contd)

"ATrojanhorseisacodefragmentthathidesinsidea

program

and

performs

a

disguised

function.

It's

a

popularmechanismfordisguisingavirusoraworm"(Russell&Gangemi,2006)

"AbombisatypeofTrojanhorse,usedtoreleaseavirus,

aworm

or

some

other

system

attack.

It's

either

an

independentprogramorapieceofcodethat'sbeenplantedbyasystemdeveloperorprogrammer."(Russell

&Gangemi,

2006)

Surveillancesystem,satellitessystems,SignalsandHumanIntelligence(C4ISRandIW,n.d)



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3.4InformationWeaponries

(contd)

"Atrapdoor,orabackdoor,isamechanismthat'sbuilt

into

a

system

by

its

designer.

The

function

of

a

trap

door

istogivethedesignerawaytosneakbackintothesystem,circumventingnormalsystemprotection."(Russell&Gangemi,2006)

Chippingis

aprocess

of

implanting

tiny

electronics

chip

intohardwaretoperformanunexpectedfunctionbythemanufacturer.Thefunctionincludesendingradiosignal

toaspecific

location,

total

breakdown

and

unexpected

performancewhenremotelytriggeredbyaspecificfrequencysignal(Haeni,1997).



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3.4In ormationWeaponries

(contd)

NanomachineandMicrobes;thisarespecialbredofmicroorganismandtinyrobotswithabilitytodestroy

integratedcircuits,

computer

system

,buildings

or

completelyshutdownsystems(Haeni,1997).

Electronicjammingareusedtodestruct

communicationsignals

or

overshadow

signal

with

incorrectinformationtodeceivetheaudience(Haeni,1997).

High

Energy

Radio

Frequency(

HERF)

gun

and

ElectroMagneticPulse(EMP)bombareusedtoshutdownelectronicdevicesorcompletelydestroyit(Haeni,1997).



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4.0Civilian viewof Information

Warfare

Withtheintroductionofinformationand

communication

technology

(ICT)

resulting

in

high

securityriskalongthetransmissionmedia,varioussecuritymeasuresarebeingtakenbyindividualandindustriestoreduceinformationrisks.Today,the

confidentiality,integrity

and

availability

of

data

are

so

importanttotheITsystem. TheComputerSecurityInstitutereportedthatin2007,encryptionwasused71%

of

organization

to

send

data

information

while

53%

uses

varioustypesofencryptiontheirdatastorage(Richardson,2008).



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4.1Encryption

Programs

Currently,varioustypesofencryptionprogramsare

being

design

and

used

to

transmit

information

securely

ontheinformationsuperhighwaysbythecivilians.

Therapid rateofdevelopmentofencryptionnowsupporttheuserofstrong,powerfulencryptionto

protectprivate,

public

communications

network

and

theirdatastorage.Therearenowbetterproductsoffering128bitand256bitencryptionsmakingthe

illegaland

unauthorized

decryption

of

transmitted

informationmoredifficult(Littleton,1995).



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4.2SecureDigital

Communication

Moderntechnologyindigitalcommunicationhasbroughtalotofimprovementininformationintermsencryptionasawayofreducingsecurityrisk.Thenewcommunicationutilizeddigitalsignatures,therebypreventingunauthorizedinterception,preservingthe

confidentialityand

integrity

of

data

(Littleton,

1995).

Randomencryptionisusedeachtimethephoneisusedmakingguessingtherightkeytodecryptthesignal

difficult

(Littleton,

1995).



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4.3EMV

Chip

Card

ThereplacementofmagneticstripesmartcardbytheEMVchipcard,ErastusAkingbola,formergroupchiefexecutiveofaNigerianbank,said

"WearemigratingourMasterCardtoEMVChipand

Pincompliance,

and

are

installing

several

automated

processesforcardandPindistributionthatareefficientandsecure.Ofcourseourcardswillprovide100per

cent

transaction

approval

rates.

It

is

a

multi

channel

basedcardfortransactionsviaATM,POSterminals,Kiosk(Peters,2009).



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4.4RedundantManagement

Systems

Inattempttoreducesecurityrisk,theuseofredundantmanagementsystemsisemployedaswayofquickrecoveryfrominformationsecurityattacks(Littleton,1995).Redundancyisdefinedastheabilityofcertaincomponentsofasystemtoassumefunctionsoffailed

componentswithout

adversely

affecting

the

performanceofthesystemitself(Matalus&Fiering,1977).Buildingofredundancyincommunicationpath

and

backing

up

of

all

information

systems

resources

is

beingusedbycooperateorganizationtomitigateriskofsystemfailuresinceitisraretoattackallthesystemsatatime.



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5.0ImpactofInformation

Warfareon

Military

Sector

Onethe majorresponsibilityistotowintheinformationwarstated,intheNationalMilitarystrategyoftheUnitedStatesofFebruary1995(DeVries,1997).

Themilitarypowerandnationaleconomydepends

greatlyonly

the

national

information

infrastructures

duetoitsautomatedandnetworkdependantnature.Asaresult,thenationalinformationinfrastructuresis

thecentre

of

all

information

warfare

attack

and

itdependslargelyonelectricpower,computersand

telecommunication(Wik,2000).



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5.0ImpactofInformation

Warfareon

Military

Sector

Contd

Theimpactofinformationarecanbegroupedintothreeparts:Organizational,DoctrineandOperation.(Hawkin,1997)

IWhasbroughtnewidealthathelpstheinvestigationandexplorationofnewoperationalandorganizationalconcept

inthe

military.(Hawkin, 1997)

IWhelpstoreduceloses,casualtiesandworkinggroupstoasmallerrate.(Hawkin, 1997)

IWspeedsupoperationwhilecommandandcontrolisworsen.Withlesstimeandwidebattlespace,resultscanbeeasyexamined.(Hawkin, 1997)



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NationalInformationInfrastructures

Media

Transport

Waterandsewage

EmergencyservicesFinanceandbanking

IndustrialproductionPublichealthandsafety

Energy,oil,andgascontrolOthergovernmentaloperations

Militarycommandandcontrolsystems


ELECTRIC

POWERTELECOM

COMPUTERS


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6.0

Impact

of

Information

WarfareonPrivateSector Theworldtodayhadmovedfromagrariantoindustrialandfinallyto

informationwave.

The

most

industrial

nations

economy

greatly

dependsoninformationtechnology(Knapp&Boulton,2006).

Computersnowcontroltheelectricpower,telecommunicationsystems,aviationsystemsandthefinancialsector.Medical,business,criminalandothervitarecordsarenowstoredonthecomputersystems(NationalResearchCouncil,1991).

FormalPresidentBush(2003)stated

By2003,oureconomyandnationalsecuritybecamefullydependentuponITandtheinformationinfrastructure.Anetworkofnetworksdirectly

supportsthe

operation

of

all

sectors

of

our

economy,

energy,

transportation, financeandbanking,informationandtelecommunications,publichealth,emergencyservices,water,medical,defenseindustrialbase,food,agriculture,andpostalandshipping.



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6.0

Impact

of

Information

WarfareonPrivateSectorcontd Since 1994,whenhackersattacksmilitary,civilianand

governmentorganizations

through

the

Griffiss

Air

Force

base

computers.Themajortargetofcyberterroristhavebeingonthecivilianfirms,commercialfirmsand infrastructures.(Strassmann,2001).

In

an

attempt

to

avoid

direct

military

conflict

with

the

U.S

forces.Today,privatesectorandciviliansarenowthemajorfocusof informationwarfare(Adams,2001).

Corporateespionagerateisrapidlyincreasingduetothecurrent

corporatecompetition,

modern

development

in

IT

and

miniaturizationofdigitaldevicesandopeningofinternalnetworkwhichmakemoreinformationavailableforboththeworkersandvendors(Knapp&Boulton,2006).



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7.0Security

Measures

Protectivemeasureusedbyciviliansecuritypractitionersareredundancy,alternative procedureandemergencyplans(Wik,2000).

Implementingsecuritypolicyandguidelines,properallocationofallresourcesandtraining(Wik,2000).

Accesscontrol

through

the

installation

of

intrusion

detector,vulnerabilityscanners,firewallsystems andnetworksecurityanalyzer(Hrovat,2001).

Information

confidentiality,

integrity

and

availability

measurethroughuserauthentication,encryption,andinstallationofantivirusandInternetsecuritysoftware.

(Uchida,Sugano,&Andou,2006).



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7.1VulnerabilityScanners/ToolsSomeoftheinformationweaponriesusedbythe militaryand civiliansecurity

practitionersto

acquire

knowledge

about

their

organizational

strategies

and

plansandsecuritymeasurestoreduceinformationrisksare:

NetworkVisualisation,MonitorsandSnifferssoftwares.LikeVisio,NetViz,NetPartitioner,NeoTrace,TraceRoute,Ethload,NetXray,Etherpeak,TCPDump,Snoop,IPWatcher,TsightandScott/Tkined

VulnerabilityAnalysissoftware. LikeISSInternetScanner,KaneSecurityAnalyst,TridentIPToolbox/L3Expert,SecurityProfileInspector(SPI),SNIBallistaandSATAN

Intrusiondetectionsoftware.LikeRealSecure,NetRanger,Stalker/CyberCop,

IntruderAlert,

Network

Flight

Recorder,

SHADOW

and

NIDS

Exploitationsoftware.LikeNTSecurity,RootShell,OfflineNTPasswordUtility,LophtHeavyIndustries,AntiOnline,Insecure/Fyodor,TCPwrappers,Tripwire,COPS,crack,LophtCrackandScanNT



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8.0Characteristics

of

Cyber

war

TargetexitinCyberspacewithrealimpact

Telecommunication

ComputerNetwork

ControlNetwork

Weapons

MaliciousSoftware

EMPWeapons

Datamanipulationanddestruction

Techniques

Virtualdestruction

of

target

in

the

cyberspace

Disablingofsystemsoftware

Overwhelmingofcontrolsystem

Capitalrequiredissmallforlargeimpact

PhysicalriskassociatedisLowforthecybercriminal

Role

of

media

is

moderate

Legalfactorareilldefined

Physicalpresence notrequiredforsuccessfulattack(boundaryless)

Attackcanhave any effectsfocusedordiffused

Treatcreatedare inthevirtualandphysical



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InterviewQuestionandResult Theinterviewconductedshowsthatmostpeopleinthedevelopingcountriesarecompletelyignorant

of

information

warfare

and

cyber

war.

I

interviewed

two

military

officials

from

Nigerian

Defense

AcademyKadunaandNigerianWarCollegeAbujawhobothclaimedtobeunawareoftheterminformationwarfare.Also,fromtheinterviewconducteditshowsthatmostoftheciviliansandmilitaryofficialsinterviewedclaimedtobecompletelyignorantofinformationwarfareandcyberwarfare.AllthepeopleIinterviewedclaimedtohavenoideaofinformationandcyberwarfare.

Someofthequestionaskedboththecivilianandmilitarysecuritypractitionersare;1. Whatisinformationwarfare

2. Whataretheinformationsecuritymeasuresusedinyourorganization?

3. Whatarethecausesofinformationsecurityfailuresinyourorganization?

4. Whataretheinformationwarfaresecuritymeasuresimplementedinyourorganizationalplanningandstrategic?

5. HowwillyouassestheeffectivenessoftheinformationsecuritymeasureusedIyourorganization?

6. Evaluatethestateofinformationsecuritymeasuresinyourorganization?

Sincealotofthepeoplearoundmeseemnottobeawareofthisnewtopicduetothelowtechnologicaldevelopmentofthedevelopingcountries.WhichBrazzoli(2007)referstothisasthelowAfricantechnologyscenarioandmaybeintheyear2020thefirstAfricancountrywillwaketoinformationwarfarecapability.Itiscompletelydifficultformetocompletethisassignmentwithanyinterviewresultbecause100%ofthepeopleinterviewedclaimedtohavenoideaofinformationandcyberwarfare.



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Conclusion

TheincreasingoverdependencyofoureconomyandinfrastructuresonITsystemcreatedahighlevelofsecurity

risks

resulting

from

inexpensive

cost

of

cyber

attacksisofgreatconcernstoboththepublic,privateandmilitarysectors.Informationwarfareisatwo

edgedsword,

acountry

capable

of

waging

IW

is

also

veryvulnerability.Currently,securitytreataremorethatthesolutionwehaveandthecostofpreventinginformationwarfareisfarbeyondthecostoftheattack.Itisthereforenecessaryfomthegovernmentandagencyinvolvedtobemorecommittedandeffective.



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References

Adams,J.(2001).VirtualDefense.RetrievedfromForeignAffairs:http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/57037/jamesadams/virtualdefense

Arquilla,J.&Ronfeldt,D.(1997).Retrievedfromhttp://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2007/RAND_RP223.pdf

Brazzoli,S.M.(2007).Futureprospectsofinformationwarfareandparticularlypsychologicaloperations..Retrievedfrom

http://www.iss.org.za/uploads/SA2020CHAP13.PDF

Bush,G.W.(2003).NationalStrategytoSecureCyberspace.Retrievedfromhttp://www.whitehouse.

C4ISRandInformationWarfare.NavalWeaponsSystems.(n.d).Retrievedfrom

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~nava201/presentations/Lecture19.ppt

DeVries,A.(1997).InformationWarfareandItsImpactonNationalSecurity(U).Retrievedfromhttp://www.dtic.mil/cgi

bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA325003

Haeni,R.E.(1997).InformationWarfareanIntroduction.Retrievedfromhttp://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/infowar.pdf

Hrovat,E.(2001).InformationWarfare:TheUnconventionalArtInADigitalWorld.Retrievedfrom

http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/warfare/informationwarfareunconventionalartdigitalworld_787

Kaomea,P.(n.d.).BeyondSecurity:ADataQualityPerspectiveonDefensiveInformationWarfare.Retrievedfrom

http://mitiq.mit.edu/iciq/Documents/IQ%20Conference%201996/Keynote%20and%20Lunch%20Speeches/Beyond%20Security.pdf

Kelsey,J.T.(2008).HackingintoInternationalHumanitarianLaw:ThePrinciplesofDistinctionandNeutralityintheAgeofCyberWarfare.

Retrievedfromhttp://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=32010233&site=ehost

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