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List:       isn
Subject:    [ISN] DOD redefining info ops
From:       William Knowles <wk () C4I ! ORG>
Date:       2000-05-30 4:52:09
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http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0529/news-nato-05-29-00.asp

BY Dan Verton
05/29/2000

Based on the lessons learned from the 78-day air war in Kosovo,
Defense Department officials are seeking to redefine the emerging
field of high-tech information operations, a senior DOD official said
last week.

Operation Allied Force showed that the current definition of
information operations is "much too broad," said Air Force Lt. Col.
Chris Glaze, a staff officer within the Joint Chiefs of Staff Policy
and Doctrine Division. Pentagon officials are studying how to whittle
down the responsibilities that fall within the IO field so that
commanders and personnel can better understand whats required of them.

The textbook definition of IO includes a vague reference to "actions
taken to affect adversary information systems" as well as to defend
U.S. systems, Glaze said. Other IO missions might include jamming and
physical attacks on information systems, psychological operations,
deception and computer network attacks.

The Pentagons overall IO effort met with minimal success during the
Kosovo air war, said Glaze. During a presentation in Zurich,
Switzerland, at the third International Electronic Warfare Conference
and Exposition, sponsored by the Association of Old Crows, Glaze said
that DOD has yet to really conduct a 21st century IO campaign.

The Pentagon is studying the possibility of redefining IO as
"perception management" and creating separate mission areas out of the
multitude of functions that fall under the definition (see box).

That would leave a new definition of IO that would include
psychological operations, military deception, counter-propaganda
operations and the like, Glaze said. However, military deception could
include hacking into enemy systems to implant false data or
communicating false information.

"Achieving operational consensus on the definition of information
operations has been the big problem from the beginning," said John
Pike, a defense and intelligence analyst with the Federation of
American Scientists. However, "perception management is probably a
subset of IO...and to the extent that gaining control of computer
networks can actually have material consequences, IO is certainly much
more than perception management."

As part of its psychological operations campaign in Kosovo, the
Pentagon dropped more than 104,000 leaflets similar to those that were
dropped over Europe during World War II, Glaze said. Also, electronic
warfare aircraft flew 88 missions to broadcast pro-Allied Force
messages. The Pentagon also set up a World Wide Web site at www.
serbia-info.com to further counter the propaganda of the Serbs, Glaze
said.

"What happened during Allied Force was basically warmed-over command
and control warfare," said Glaze, referring to an older form of
electronic warfare that has existed for a decade or more.


[WK Note: Check out, Taking a hack at it]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0529/news-Natos-05-29-00.asp


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