Information Warfare Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Summary
Cyber conflicts represent a new kind of warfare which is technologically developing very rapidly. The result of such development are more frequent and more intensive cyber attacks undertaken by states against adversary targets and which have a broad range of diverse operations, from information operations to physical destruction of targets. Nevertheless, cyber warfare is waged through application of means, techniques and methods as are used in case of cyber criminal, terrorism and intelligence activities and has a very specific nature that enables states to covertly initiate attacks against their adversaries.
The starting point in defining doctrines, procedures and standards in the area of cyber warfare is determining its true nature. In this paper a contribution to this effort was made through analysis of the existing state doctrines and international practices in the area of cyber warfare and determining of its nationally acceptable definition.

Introduction
Interest of national, academic and international institutions for cyber security and especially cyber warfare is achieving explosive growth. The threats of cyber attacks grow proportionally with the influence that information communication technologies exert on the world. These threats come from individuals, groups or states and manifest on both national and international level. NATO military alliance, Organization for Collective Security and Cooperation and states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization are extremely interested in the area of cyber warfare. Although there have not been any wars happening in cyber space alone, cyber warfare has become an important part of combined military operations, and has been successfully manifested in network centric, asymmetric, traditional warfare but also in new forms of conflicts that play out simultaneously both in the state of war and peace. Cyber warfare requires new forms of legal regulation necessary for defining of new national strategies, doctrines, capacities and international relations. The basis for this is definition of fundamental concepts and development of appropriate taxonomy. Only this provides preconditions for scientific analysis of applicability of the existing Law of Armed Conflict to cyber warfare and basis for its upgrade and creation of a national doctrine, procedures, methods and cyber war techniques.

Determining the nature of cyber conflict
The true nature of cyber warfare has yet to be understood. The basic cause for this is that the same means, techniques and methods are used for all other forms of endangering cyber security such as warfare, criminal, terrorism and intelligence activities. However, it is these techniques and means exactly that make it different from all the existing forms of conflict. The basic characteristic of cyber warfare reflects in the fact who the actors of the cyber attack are and whether they have international legal subjectivity. The main issue of cyber warfare is not the question how the attack happened, but who the attacker is and why the attack happened. In order for the international law to be applicable to it, it is important to determine the consequences of the attack also. An overwhelming digitalization and media domination expand the area of cyber warfare operations. These circumstances require a new military view of conflicts that may be distributed, separated from the state of war, in the form of independent military operations.

What is cyber space?
Cyber warfare happens partially or completely inside cyber space or through it. A unique definition of cyber space does not exist and understanding of its nature changes. In the broadest sense, it is an artificially created medium in which information is created, sent, received, kept, processed or destroyed. Cyber space should not be understood as a domain, but as a specific activity. Its physical basis spreads on all geographic areas, which grants the right to states to exercise their own sovereignty over its parts or over its entirety. Cyber space is not just the Internet, but is made up of all computer networks, as well as everything that conects and controls them. The technology of cyber space develops rapidly, unlike the internalional law and this fact makes regulation of cyber warfare harder.

What is cyber warfare?
As with cyber space, a common view on the nature of cyber wrfare does not exist. Nevertheless, it has its own characteristics that are becoming more prominent. In order for a cyber conflict to be defined as warfare, it must obtain the nature of an armed aggression of one international law subject on another. Its distributed nature differs from all known forms of warfare. Its direct form of exercise of force is non-kinetic, but its indirect effects may be physical destruction of assets and death of people. In accordance to national interests and development of cyber infrastructure of USA and Russia stand in favour of opposed views on the nature of cyber warfare.
In the US doctrine, cyber warfare is separated from the area of information operations and increasingly manifests in its technological form. Cyber operations are accepted as a key factor in providing the network centric framework of the army. Being highly dependent on information infrastructure in both civilian and military areas, USA primarily recognizes the cyber warfare threats that endanger their critical information systems. Thus the attack in cyber space is considered an equivalent to a traditional attack and subject to response by any military means. Using their dominant position in the media arena, they advocate the prevention of information censorship in cyber space of adversary states with autocratic regimes, pointing out the right to freedom of speech. By proclaiming the cyber space the fifth domain of warfare, USA have initiated a strong national campaign for development of cyber warfare capacities supported by diplomatic efforts, academic community and private corporation projects. Having understood that in cyber warfare passive defense is not effective, USA is developing a deterrence doctrine with proactive operations.
A different view is supported by a group of states gathered within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization whose most active advocate is Russia. Understanding the danger coming from technologically shaped cyber attacks, this initiative points out the danger from information operations in cyber space whose goal is a collective manipulation of population behaviour for the purpose of destabilizing the social and state apparatus and provocation of unrest and uprising. These activities are considered a form of aggression since they represent de facto act of interfering with internal affairs and sovereignty of states. This view is accompanied by an active initiative of Russia within UN to ban such information operations in cyber space, with the support of a large number of world countries, including Serbia.
By defending their own views, states undertake concealed cyber operations against their adversaries. There is a high level of inter-dependence and simultaneous application of defensive, offensive and intelligence operations in cyber space. The efficiency of a defense strategy is best seen in the ability of a system to absorb cyber attacks and continue to function after the attack. Weaker international actors can easily achieve asymmetrical advantage over a stronger opponent through application of offensive cyber operations in technological or information media domain.
Based on the practice so far and manifested characteristics of cyber warfare it may be concluded that it represents the offensive and defensive application of cyber weapons and information, initiated by state actors with the goal of destroying or disabling (by damaging, degrading, prevention of functioning, change or generating) of the adversary goal by direct operations against information and information systems and indirect operations against systems, assets, services, processes, society and individuals who depend on these information and information systems, as well as for the purpose of defense of one’s own capacities from such adversarial operations. Cyber warfare happens in part or completely through the use of cyber space, activities in cyber space or through it. Since the meaning of the notion of cyber space changes in accordance with technological development, the evolution of the concept of cyber warfare is also expected. Cyber warfare is not exclusively waged against information and information systems, nor is it completely taking place inside cyber space, but has a broad area of operation targeting the complete cyber infrastructure consisting of people, processes and systems that make up cyber space. Cyber warfare achieves direct impact and indirect impact which is more important in terms of warfare and represents a consequence of direct action on elements of cyber infrastructure. In respect of duration of action upon a target, cyber warfare may have immediate or postponed effect. Concerning application of cyber warfare many combinations of operations are possible, out of which only cyber attacks on cyber and traditional targets constitute cyber warfare. Traditional attacks on cyber or traditional targets do not represent cyber warfare.

Conclusion
Cyber warfare is a narrower part of cyber security which also includes criminal and intelligence activities. Although different in subject, intent and actors, their means, methods, techniques, goals and nature are intertwined and connected, which makes cyber warfare suitable for abuse by all actors in the international scene. This is why a joint view of states, academic institutions, interest groups, private capital and individuals for the purpose of creating a generally accepted taxonomy in the area of cyber warfare and building of international legal regulation is necessary. The characteristics of cyber warfare are known and may provide a significant contribution to ...