Syllabus Details

Using Leading Issues in IW As a Textbook

Basic syllabus structure:

Block 1: Introduction
Block 2: The Lessons of History
Block 3: Conceptualizing Modern Information Warfare
Block 4: The Challenge of Non-State Actors
Block 5: Partnerships and Conflicts of Interest
Block 6: An Attack on the Mind
Block 7: We're All In This Together
Block 8: Theory of Attacks
Block 9: An Attack, Dissected
Block 10: Reversible Cyberattacks
Block 11: A Just War?
Block 12: Who's Responsible For Defense?
Block 13: The Right to Bear Arms?
Block 14: Virtual Societies and Virtual Warfare

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For description of block contents, scroll down below semester structures

Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Block 4
Class 4: Block 5
Class 5: Block 6
Class 6: Block 7
Class 7: Midterm Exam
Class 8: Block 8
Class 9: Block 9
Class 10: Block 10
Class 11: Block 11
Class 12: Block 12
Class 13: Block 13
Class 14: Block 14
Final Exam

Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Blocks 4 & 5
Class 4: Block 6
Class 5: Block 7
Class 6: Midterm Exam
Class 7: Blocks 8 & 9
Class 8: Block 10
Class 9: Block 11
Class 10: Blocks 12 & 13
Class 11: Block 14
Class 12: Final Exam

10 Week Semester:

Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Blocks 4 & 5
Class 4: Block 6
Class 5: Block 7
Class 6: Midterm Exam
Class 7: Blocks 8 & 9
Class 8: Blocks 10 & 11
Class 9: Blocks 12, 13, 14
Class 10: Final Exam

Block 1: Introduction

Discussion: Information warfare, technology, and security: the right to be safe in one's person, the safety and continued value of one's possessions, the mutual security of one's environment, the elements of security for one's community (including economic and national security), and the communal security of the international environment. Changes emerging in the current environment: the death of distance, a new plurality, and the changes in political power bases. Potential ways of considering cyber warfare: that of from a legal response perspective, that of a doctrinal issue, and that of a functional problem space.

Selected reading: Introductory remarks to the textbook. Pages iii - xxxii

Ancillary readings: Set 1

Block 2: The Lessons of History

Discussion: It has been said that those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it. For this purpose, the first paper presented is "Information Warfare in Greece and Rome: Cryptography and Steganography" by Evan Dembskey from South Africa. It is useful to consider the notion of information competition without the distraction of technology in order to really appreciate the fundamentals. Information is a critical part of human existence: the ability to imagine, to project one concept onto another, to communicate ideas, and to coerce, deny, and distract others. Appreciating how information competition occurred in a previous age provides context to an analysis of technologically based competition in the information age.

The selected paper, pages 20 - 34
"Information Warfare in Greece and Rome: Cryptography and Steganography"
Evan Dembskey Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

Ancillary readings:

Block 3: Conceptualizing Modern Information Warfare

Discussion: The second paper in this series, "Information Warfare - A European Perspective of Recent Developments" by Andy Jones, from the United Kingdom and Australia, introduces us to a brief history and perspective of the conceptualization of information warfare. In this paper, he reviews the recent history of thought regarding information warfare, beginning in the 1990s when we all thought this was more about competitive hacking than it was about serious geopolitical strife. He then takes the reader through the changes that occurred, both in the political and technical landscapes. He reviews the reported incidents of activities that could be classified variously as hactivism, cyber-activism, of cyber-warfare, and explores the common factors of each instance. This review provides a useful history lesson while bring home the lesson that these are the types of challenges we can easily expect to face in the future: they are not science fiction, they are science fact.

The selected paper, pages 107 - 120
Information Warfare – A European Perspective of Recent Developments
Andy Jones, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

Ancillary readings:

Block 4: The Challenge of Non-State Actors

Discussion: The third paper, "Cyber Antagonism Between Hacker Groups Develops new Challenges" by Roland Heickero, from Sweden, highlights a significant challenge in this area: that of non-state actors. This paper, as well as the next two in this series, confront a significant challenge in the area of information warfare. Hacker groups, terrorists, governments, and corporations are all dependent upon the cyber ecosystem. Each can use the ecosystem to have spats and contests, with some damage done, but none dare ruin the entire ecosystem. In reality, the situation now is one of mutually assured destruction: the dependency is so deep that only limited damage, such as defacements, have been seen to date. What about the future, though? If one group should become sufficiently annoyed at another group, it is indeed possible that the cyberspace equivalent of a nuclear bomb might be deployed. In real space, nuclear weapons are the subject of conventions and controls. In cyberspace, how would such a weapon even be detected prior to execution? This paper illustrates that non-state actors are already using the networks as a place for competition. What the future may bring is a cause for both concern and for consideration.

The selected paper, pages 54 - 64
Cyber Antagonism Between Hacker Groups Develops New Challenges
Roland Heickerö, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Stockholm, Sweden

Ancillary readings:

Block 5: Partnerships and Conflicts of Interest

Discussion: The fourth paper, "Use of Information Sharing Between Government and Industry as a Weapon" by Julie Ryan from the US speaks to a problematic and persistent fact of life in the current world: the fact that the infrastructures upon which information warfare is likely to be waged is neither owned nor controlled by geopolitical entities. Instead these infrastructures are mostly owned and controlled by very large multi-national corporations, whose loyalty to any one nation is not always possible to determine. This reality has led to many governments calling for "public-private partnerships", a structure in which information "sharing" occurs between the public entity and the private entities. The paper explores the not unlikely scenario of a very large multi-national corporation using multiple partnerships in order to proactively protect its investment through the quite secret and surreptitious planting of a vulnerability through the auspices of the information sharing channels. The scenario is used to bring up the very tenuous ability of geopolitical states, with their sovereignty firmly grounded in physical space, to actually wage information warfare without the benign or not so benign consent of these corporate behemoths. The implications are somewhat sobering, if taken to extremes.

The selected paper, pages 165 - 177
Use of Information Sharing Between Government and Industry as a Weapon
Julie J.C.H. Ryan, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Ancillary readings:

Block 6: An Attack on the Mind

Discussion: The fifth paper, "Terrorist use of the Internet: Exploitation and Support Through ICT Infrastructure" by Namosha Veerasamy and Marthie Grobler from South Africa, introduces how some parties see cyberspace: as a place to spread ideas and support transformative actions. This paper builds upon the previous two by examining the role of non-state actors in competition and conflict in the modern era. This issue is a serious one for those concerned with national security because the goal of the terrorists is to undermine and unseat established governmental structures. Their use of the communications infrastructure is so far relatively benign, if one can consider raising and funding an army benign, but the potential is enormous. Through these actions, the terrorists show both an appreciation for the technological infrastructure and a fairly sophisticated imagination of how to use these technologies for their various goals. Should those goals and capabilities turn towards acts of armed aggression in cyberspace in the future, it may well be within their capabilities.

The selected paper, pages 178 - 194
Terrorist Use of the Internet: Exploitation and Support Through ICT Infrastructure
Namosha Veerasamy and Marthie Grobler, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa

Ancillary readings:

Block 7: We're All In This Together

Discussion: The sixth paper, "Operational Aspects of Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorist Attacks: What a Truly Devastating Attack Could Do" by Eric Filiol from France, provides a scenario that lends structure to the challenge of understanding cyberwarfare. The great benefit of Filiol's scenario and analysis is that it challenges the modern concepts of computer security practice, the transcendent nature of cyberspace, and the inability of modern governing structures to address challenges in this space. In what some readers may find controversial, Filiol strongly implies that a defense oriented posture is the wrong way to think about the problem and will lead to cascading problems. The challenge of attribution is seen as a key problem. This is something which vexes nation-states today and which will continue to be a problem in the future.

The selected paper, pages 35 - 53
Operational Aspects of Cyberwarfare or Cyber-Terrorist Attacks: What a Truly Devastating Attack Could Do
Eric Filiol, ESIEA - Operational Virology and Cryptology Laboratory, Laval, France
Ancillary readings:

Block 8: Theory of Attacks

Discussion: The seventh paper, "How the Pride Attacks" by Sabah Al-Fedaghi from Kuwait, addresses a fundamental question: that of targeting and executing attacks. Taking his inspiration from the lion, he develops a flow model of attack execution that is quite intriguing. Understanding attack patterns is, of course, a critical component to effective defense.

The selected paper, pages 1 - 19
How the Pride Attacks
Sabah Al-Fedaghi, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Ancillary readings:

Block 9: An Attack, Dissected

Discussion: The eighth paper, "Intelligence-Driven Computer Network Defense Informed by Analysis of Adversary Campaigns and Intrusion Kill Chains" by Eric Hutchins, Michael Cloppert and Rohan Amin from the US, presents an in-depth look at one avenue of attack that can be used for various purposes. The problems it describes, that of advanced persistent threats and targeted malicious emails, are serious and significant. This deep look into the challenges of one corporation in detecting and eliminating these threats is instructive in how hard it is to defend against a persistent enemy attacking through information systems and networks.

The selected paper, pages 80 - 106
Intelligence-Driven Computer Network Defense Informed by Analysis of Adversary Campaigns and Intrusion Kill Chains
Eric Hutchins, Michael Cloppert and Rohan Amin, Lockheed Martin, USA

Ancillary readings:

Block 10: Reversible Cyberattacks

Discussion: The ninth paper, "Towards Reversible Cyberattacks" by Neil Rowe from the US, proposes a unique way to up the ante in cyberwarfare. There have been many arguments about the legitimacy of information warfare because of the challenge of controlling where cyber-weapons might go and what damage they might do. The challenge of controlling collateral damage is seen as truly quite large and beyond current capabilities. In this paper, Neil Rowe presents a provocative argument that cyber-weapons could be made to have reversible effects, which would change the ethical argument significantly. In the real world, bombs that have reversible effects might not have the intended effects: if building rebuilt themselves, people sprang back to life, and damage reversed itself, what motivation would there be to conclude a conflict? Yet perhaps in cyberspace, that very reversibility is a capability that might make the notion palatable from an international standards perspective.

The selected paper, pages 150 - 164
Towards Reversible Cyberattacks
Neil Rowe, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA

Ancillary readings:

Block 11: A Just War?

Discussion: The tenth paper, "War and Ethics in Cyberspace: Cyber-Conflict and Just War Theory" by Andrew Liaropoulos from Greece, introduces a truly troubling area for consideration: that of how cyberwarfare, with all of its implications, fits into the historically evolved human notions of just war and just warfare. How information warfare might be conducted is just one problem to be dealt with. Whether and under what conditions it might occur are two other problems that need to be considered. In this paper, Liaropoulos leads the reader through an analysis of ‘just war' theory in order to address these considerations.

The selected paper, pages 121 - 134
War and Ethics in Cyberspace: Cyber-Conflict and Just War Theory
Andrew Liaropoulos, University of Piraeus, Greece

Ancillary readings:

Block 12: Who's Responsible For Defense?

Discussion: The eleventh paper, "Changing Security Speech and Environment: From Nation States to Corporation Security" by Aki-Mauri Huhtinen and Kari Laitinen from Finland, introduces and addresses an extremely problematic element in the arena of information warfare: that of who decides what "security" consists of, how that security is instantiated, and what repercussions exist for lapses of security. The paper is a difficult one to read for those who are not well versed in the language of sociology but the reward for reading it is great, in that the paper addresses some extremely thorny issues associated with the information warfare debate. Those issues include whether or not strict attribution should be required, which would by definition eliminate both anonymity and pseudo-anonymity, both incredibly important aspects of dissident speech in repressive regimes. A related issue raised and discussed is the tension between being free from fear and being free to think. These thorny issues are discussed in the context of government desires for closer cooperation with industry for security purposes. This is presented as a recipe for making internal security a critical element of state goals, to the detriment of a free society. So the question is raised: who is responsible for security and how do we, as a polity, manage the tension between security and freedom?

The selected paper:, pages 65 - 79
Changing Security Speech and Environment: From Nation States to Corporation Security
Aki-Mauri Huhtinen and Kari Laitinen, respectively from National Defence University, Helsinki, Finland Police College of Finland, Tampere, Finland

Ancillary readings:

Block 13: The Right to Bear Arms?

Discussion: The twelfth paper, "Theoretical Offensive Cyber Militia Models" by Rain Ottis from Estonia, describes an interesting alternative to the relatively modern tradition of state-organized defensive structures chartered to wage warfare. In this paper, Ottis presents a concept of cooperative cyber-defense through militia type models. However, discussion of the topic also raises some thorny issues, including one of whether individuals should have the right to self-defense. There are interesting and important questions that need to be addressed, and this paper starts that discussion on its way.

The selected paper, 135 - 149
Theoretical Offensive Cyber Militia Models
Rain Ottis, Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn, Estonia

Ancillary readings:

Block 14: Virtual Societies and Virtual Warfare

Discussion: The last paper, "Cyber Warfare: Virtual war Among Virtual Societies", by Anthimos Tsirigotis from Greece, explores the notion that only geopolitical states engage in warfare and questions whether that may be a limiting facet to the debate and discussion on information warfare. In this paper, Tsirigotis brings the matter home with his discussion of whether cyberspace is in fact a dimension separable from the real world, and hence a dimension in which warfare can be waged. This perspective is not without controversy, with some researchers advocating a point of view that cyberspace is not a distinct dimension but simply an extension to the physical world. The discussion is important because independent of the perspective, the results will undoubtedly be felt by real people living real lives.

The selected paper, pages 195 - 205
Cyber Warfare: Virtual War Among Virtual Societies
Anthimos Alexander Tsirigotis, Athens, Greece

Ancillary readings: