Bill Putnam shares his insights from his year-long service in Iraq as head of the Coalition?s Open Source Intelligence Cell on why the Coalition is losing the all-important information war in Iraq.
Just before their Net connections were bombed offline, Iraqis scoured an American information-warfare site in an apparent effort at self-defense. The attempt, futile as it may have been, illustrates the Web's growing role in military conflict.
Computer viruses, worms, and electronic "pulses" could be doing substantial damage in Iraq, according to some cybersecurity experts.
The structure of Iraq's internet makes it very vulnerable to being shut down by U.S. military forces and it appears that they lack the home-grown talent to defend or retaliate against such attacks.
The U.S. military will likely use the potential Iraq conflict to test out their information warfare training. They'll use this whole thing as a big training ground," according to James Bamford. "They'll experiment with everything they've been thinking about for a long time."
A campaign to reach out and touch the Iraqi people through e-mail apparently hasn't been as successful as the United States had hoped, because the Iraqi government censors all e-mail coming into the country.
The US Air Force is working on developing a man-made bolt of lightning powerful enough to fry sophisticated computer and electronic components in weapons.
U.S. Intelligence officials are concerned that a recent rise in electronic attacks against government and military computer networks in the United States may be the work of pro-Iraqi hackers and could signal a "potential crisis" in national security.
In an effort to persuade Iraqi military leaders not to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and other allied forces, the Defense Department sent thousands of e-mail messages to them, promising protection for those who comply.
Apparently in response to a blanket e-mail campaign by the U.S. military urging dissent and defections, the Iraqi government shut down -- at least temporarily -- all Internet access and the country's two e-mail servers.