Volume 11, Issue 1

Volume 11, Issue 1 Editorial

JUNE 2012

Welcome to the 31st Issue of the Journal of Information Warfare (JIW). The Journal is committed to engaging in the wider discipline of information warfare and information operations. This issue considers a range of issues relating to security and risk within the broad frame of Information Warfare.
This issue has four papers. The paper by Matthew Warren and Shona Leitch looks at Web 2.0 and its potential use by terrorist organizations. It considers a variety of real-life case studies that indicate that although less sophisticated than other organizations, terrorist movements in Ireland demonstrate a strategic approach to social media.

New Media and Web 2.0: An Irish Republican Example

ABSTRACT

The initial development of the Internet and the World Wide Web was based upon the presentation of static information, this only allowed for the access and consumption of that information. The development of Web 2.0 has resulted in a situation where information is displayed in a dynamic manner and allows for interaction between the viewer and the site or application showing this information. The information may no longer just be text based but could be video, audio and information presented in an interactive manner though applications.

Published In

Volume 11, Issue 1

Written By

Matt Warren

Shona Leitch

Keywords

Cyber Terrorism

Social Networking

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Cybersecurity’s Can of Worms

ABSTRACT

Security frameworks are reassessed and recreated in response to political paradigm shifts or revolutions, as was the case at the abrupt end of the Cold War. The two decades since however, have seen the advent of a different type of revolution, namely that of information and communication technologies, leading to a world interconnected and globalised as never before. The daily reliance on cyberspace and its criminal usage by some raises questions of security for individuals, states and international systems alike. Given this level of dependence and interdependence it is surprising to note how little these aspects feature in current security frameworks. The aim of this paper is to address cybersecurity in relation to Hansen and Nissenbaum’s view of the Copenhagen School and as a result to propose an initial alternative model.

Published In

Volume 11, Issue 1

Written By

Jantje Silomon

Richard Overill

Keywords

Cyber Security

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Has the Cyber Warfare Threat been Overstated?— A Cheap Talk Game Theoretic Analysis

ABSTRACT

In a previous study (Ma 2010), we approached the problem of asymmetry of strategic information warfare (SIW) from the perspective of costly communication governed by the handicap principle (Zahavi & Zahavi 1997). In this study, we approach another problem of SIW, i.e., the assessment of cyber warfare threats, from the perspective of costless communication, which can be formulated as a cheap talk game. We apply the classic Crawford & Sobel (C-S) (1982) cheap talk game model to answer the question of whether or not cyber warfare threats may be exaggerated. Based on the Bayesian Nash equilibrium of the C-S cheap talk game, we demonstrate that, although it is possible to reach a consensus (equilibrium) between the Agent (e.g., cyber warfare lobbyist) and the Principal (e.g., government) on the state of cyber warfare threats, the loss of the state information is hardly avoidable due to A’s bias in sending costless messages.

Published In

Volume 11, Issue 1

Written By

Zhanshan (Sam) Ma

Hongju (Daisy) Chen

Axel Krings

Keywords

Cheap Talk Game

Strategic Information Warfare

Cyber Warfare Threat

Bayesian-Nash Equilibrium

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An Approach to Secure Remote Computing for Network Centric Operations

ABSTRACT

Information security is a critical aspect of a network centric architecture. As a defence force transitions to a network centric organisation strong consideration to system and network security is necessary. One facet of a network centric organisation where it can be difficult to enforce information security is for remote personnel. Information security at the deployed or remote network node often relies upon a mixture of hastily established physical, procedural and logical security mechanisms that may not always provide the same level of assurance as the information security afforded in established and permanent Defence environments.