Disinformation, Hybrid Warfare, and Information Warfare
Martha Abraham
Undergraduate Researcher
Media Major (The Media School)
Carol Choksy
Faculty Mentor
Carol Choksy (Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering)
Project Description
The idea of Information Warfare has been around for more than 25 years. It is a military term that has had several different incarnations in that time. Recently, Computer Science and Information Science have used the term in even newer and different ways, in some cases to describe disinformation, in others to describe Russian electronic election interference. More broadly it has been used in with a newer term "hybrid warfare." Few academic studies examine broader programs the Russians call Active Measures and the U.S. calls Covert Operations which are performed by spy agencies like the FSB/GRU or CIA. What are the effects on our preparedness when so many studies fail to place information warfare in the broader military and intelligence contexts?
Technology or Computational Component
Technologically oriented academic fields examine information warfare from their specific perspectives. For example, cybersecurity looks at it from the perspective of electronic election interference. The broader technical context as understood by the military includes radar jamming, disabling communications satellites with EMPs, as well as attacking adversaries' networks, and disinformation.