What Should Everyone Know About IW and IA

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What Should Everyone Know About IW and IA?

• Dorothy E. Denning
• Georgetown University
• Computer Science Department, Washington DC 20057
• Ph 202-687-5703, Fax [phone]
• denning_at_cs.georgetown.edu
• http//www.cosc.georgetown.edu/denning

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What is IW?

• Information operations conducted during time of
  crisis or conflict to achieve or promote specific
  objectives over a specific adversary or
  adversaries. IO are actions taken to affect
  adversary information and information systems
  while defending ones own information and
  information systems. DOD Directive S-3600.1,
  1996
• Actions intended to protect, exploit, corrupt,
  deny, or destroy information or information
  resources in order to achieve a significant
  advantage, objective, or victory over an
  adversary. John Alger in Information Warfare
• Both offensive and defensive operations

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What is IA?

• Information operations that protect and defend
  information and information systems by ensuring
  their availability, integrity, authentication,
  confidentiality, and non-repudiation. This
  includes providing for restoration of information
  systems by incorporating protection, detection,
  and reaction capabilities. DOD Directive
  S-3600.1, 1996
• IA includes INFOSEC -- the protection of
  information against unauthorized disclosure,
  transfer, modification, or destruction, whether
  accidental or intentional FS 1037C, 1996

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Defensive IW IA

• Significant overlap
• IA also covers unintended acts - natural
  disasters, errors, and accidents, including the
  Y2K problem
• IW also counters operations such as perception
  management that exploit mass media and resources
  not owned by defense

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IW Theory

• Information resources have value to people
• Offensive operations target an information
  resource with the objective of making it more
  valuable to the offense while making it less
  valuable to the defense
• Defensive operations seek to counter potential
  losses of value
• Operations are of a win-lose nature.

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Information Resources

• Containers
• human memories, computer memories, print media,
  tapes, disks, files, directories, rooms,
  buildings, ...
• Transporters
• people, physical distribution systems,
  point-to-point telecommunications, broadcast
  media, computer networks
• Sensors
• human sensors, cameras, microphones, scanners,
  radar, ...
• Recorders
• human, printers, tape recorders, disk writers
• Processors
• human, microprocessors, computer hardware and
  software

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Value of Information Resource to Player
concerns commitments
concerns commitments
integrity
capabilities
capabilities
availability
availability
resource
player
player
time
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decrease availability
decrease integrity
increase availability
intel/espionage piracy penetration superimp.
fraud identity theft physical theft perception mgt
tampering penetration fabrication
physical theft sabotage censorship
authentication monitoring plug holes backup
hiding authentication monitoring plug holes
authentication monitoring plug holes backup
offense
defense
ensure availability
ensure integrity
prevent availability
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Information Warfare Operations
contain, recover, harden
indications warnings
prevent
Protected information resource
attack
respond
detect
deter
investigate, notify, sue, prosecute, new laws,
in-kind attack, war
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Context of Information Warfare
national security
players operations gains losses
IW
play
crime
individual rights
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Limits of Defensive IW

• Technology limits
• Human limits
• Cant anticipate everything
• Insider threat
• No silver bullet

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Risk Management

• No foolproof defense
• absolute security does not exist
• pulling the plug is not security, but
  denial-of-service
• IA and defensive IW are about risk management,
  not absolute security

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Many Unknowns

• Whether an adversary could -- and would -- bring
  down a critical infrastructure for an extended
  period of time with an IW attack
• Whether catastrophic damages could result as a
  consequence of an IW attack against a critical
  infrastructure
• Whether terrorists and other adversaries will opt
  for such attacks over bombs or WMD
• The future - nature of war, conflict etc.

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Trends

• Computers everywhere
• Sensors everywhere
• Growing connectivity and interoperability
• Convergence of technologies and business/work
  processes
• Growing computer literate and connected
  population
• Increased automation of everything, including
  attacks