Information and technology are fundamentally connected, as technology is used to more efficiently store, modify, process, sort, and analyze information. Information systems, when combined, often store personal information, control mission-critical processes, and are vital to the everyday lives of Americans as well as the global economy. To maintain such networks, people must create and manage the operation of the information systems on a daily basis. Even with the best operational standards, no technology is fully secured; every technology developed has physical flaws, developmental limits, and defects that can be exploited. People who exploit these defects are called hackers by society, and in fact, anyone with significant computer knowledge is often considered a part of this category. The term ‘hacker’ has a negative connotation, when, in reality, individuals considered to be network experts also exploit systems, but do so to develop defenses for those systems. Although people with this level of computer and networking knowledge are stereotyped as criminals and hackers, in reality ‘hacking’ should be viewed as a benefit to America’s national security interests and should be taught openly in academic atmospheres because these same hackers are the only people who can protect America’s significant technology infrastructure – both military and civilian – from devastating information technology attacks. Information warfare has been used throughout history as a supplement to war, but typically resulted in a much less dramatic effect than modern information warfare. Unlike bombs, the effects of information warfare have the potential to reach civilians, the military, and the global economy all at the same time, without requiring significant infrastructure required. A simple information attack, while causing no loss of human lives, could devastate the global economy and must be defended against.
Information warfare has been an emerging concept of war for centuries, developing in form just as weapons have from sticks to bombs. It was Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese General, who defined the earliest conception of information warfare between 400-320 B.C., “If I am able to determine the enemy’s dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide.” Information warfare has evolved from traditional reconnaissance, deception, and psychological warfare to more complex systems used by the military to sense, deter, and destroy information systems (Coming to Grips). Information warfare has decided the outcome of battles just simply by providing superior knowledge to those in command, and as the common saying goes, “Knowledge is power.”
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