Dave Farber
2018-10-15 10:49:00 UTC
Date: October 15, 2018 at 7:24:22 PM GMT+9
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Military Leaders Are Starting To Freak Out Over Russia =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=99s_Information_Warfare_Dominance_=
Military Leaders Are Starting To Freak Out Over Russiaâs Information Warfare Dominance
By PAUL SZOLDRA
Oct 9 2018
<https://taskandpurpose.com/russia-information-war/>
Russia has become so good at information warfare that American and allied military leaders are (rightfully) starting to freak out about it.
âThe Russians are really good at this. Better than us,â UK Army Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney said at the AUSA Conference, according to Defense One. âWe saw a very clever, assiduous information campaign aimed at discrediting the campaign of the coalition [in Iraq and Syria]. And I would argue [that] in many of our nationâs capitals, we didnât realize we were being played.â
As was the case during the 2016 election, Russia is sometimes better at stoking division among ordinary Americans than your uncle at Thanksgiving dinner â through the coordinated use of bot networks, fake social media profiles, and production of misleading or partisan content that gets widely shared.
Moscow has also carried out similar campaigns in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere. Its efforts at influence can shape perceptions, while also having surprising effects on the battlefield.
As Tom Ricks wrote about in his column earlier this year, Russiaâs military has carried out some eye-opening operations that combine information ops, cyber, and good old-fashioned targeting.
âThe Russians are adept at identifying Ukrainian positions by their electrometric signatures,â Army Col. Liam Collins wrote in the August issue of Army Magazine.
âIn one tactic, soldiers receive texts telling them they are âsurrounded and abandoned.â Minutes later, their families receive a text stating, âYour son is killed in action,â which often prompts a call or text to the soldiers. Minutes later, soldiers receive another message telling them to âretreat and live,â followed by an artillery strike to the location where a large group of cellphones was detected.â
Meanwhile in Syria, Russian military operations are sometimes being conducted for the sole reason of getting photos or videos that can later be used against their enemies, according to Gedney.
âThis is not a battle that can be fought by public affairs writing lines to tape,â Gedney said. âItâs got to be be operationalized down into a genuine multi-domain battle.â
To be fair, the U.S. does carry out its own information and cyber operations. But as Army Cyber Commandâs Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone testified earlier this year, most are being done at the tactical level.
Russia spends between $400 million and $500 million per year on foreign information efforts, while the U.S. spends about $20 million, according to a paper published by the Army War College, leaving Washington âfar behind.â
Itâs a fact that most top leaders realize and canât really ignore. Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listed information warfare among just two other capabilities where NATO âurgentlyâ needs to modernize during an interview in January (the others were cyber and missile defense).
Put simply, Russia seems to be playing chess, while the U.S. is trying to figure out how to set up the board to play checkers.
The War College paper recommended a national counter information strategy and center, technological solutions to fight back against fake news, and the pursuit of international partnerships to go after things like Russiaâs âtroll factories.â
Similarly, retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, while Russia uses its skills to attack the foundations of democracy, the U.S. could respond with its own âtools to attack their foundations of autocracy.â
[snip]
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-------------------------------------------Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Military Leaders Are Starting To Freak Out Over Russia =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=99s_Information_Warfare_Dominance_=
Military Leaders Are Starting To Freak Out Over Russiaâs Information Warfare Dominance
By PAUL SZOLDRA
Oct 9 2018
<https://taskandpurpose.com/russia-information-war/>
Russia has become so good at information warfare that American and allied military leaders are (rightfully) starting to freak out about it.
âThe Russians are really good at this. Better than us,â UK Army Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney said at the AUSA Conference, according to Defense One. âWe saw a very clever, assiduous information campaign aimed at discrediting the campaign of the coalition [in Iraq and Syria]. And I would argue [that] in many of our nationâs capitals, we didnât realize we were being played.â
As was the case during the 2016 election, Russia is sometimes better at stoking division among ordinary Americans than your uncle at Thanksgiving dinner â through the coordinated use of bot networks, fake social media profiles, and production of misleading or partisan content that gets widely shared.
Moscow has also carried out similar campaigns in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere. Its efforts at influence can shape perceptions, while also having surprising effects on the battlefield.
As Tom Ricks wrote about in his column earlier this year, Russiaâs military has carried out some eye-opening operations that combine information ops, cyber, and good old-fashioned targeting.
âThe Russians are adept at identifying Ukrainian positions by their electrometric signatures,â Army Col. Liam Collins wrote in the August issue of Army Magazine.
âIn one tactic, soldiers receive texts telling them they are âsurrounded and abandoned.â Minutes later, their families receive a text stating, âYour son is killed in action,â which often prompts a call or text to the soldiers. Minutes later, soldiers receive another message telling them to âretreat and live,â followed by an artillery strike to the location where a large group of cellphones was detected.â
Meanwhile in Syria, Russian military operations are sometimes being conducted for the sole reason of getting photos or videos that can later be used against their enemies, according to Gedney.
âThis is not a battle that can be fought by public affairs writing lines to tape,â Gedney said. âItâs got to be be operationalized down into a genuine multi-domain battle.â
To be fair, the U.S. does carry out its own information and cyber operations. But as Army Cyber Commandâs Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone testified earlier this year, most are being done at the tactical level.
Russia spends between $400 million and $500 million per year on foreign information efforts, while the U.S. spends about $20 million, according to a paper published by the Army War College, leaving Washington âfar behind.â
Itâs a fact that most top leaders realize and canât really ignore. Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listed information warfare among just two other capabilities where NATO âurgentlyâ needs to modernize during an interview in January (the others were cyber and missile defense).
Put simply, Russia seems to be playing chess, while the U.S. is trying to figure out how to set up the board to play checkers.
The War College paper recommended a national counter information strategy and center, technological solutions to fight back against fake news, and the pursuit of international partnerships to go after things like Russiaâs âtroll factories.â
Similarly, retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, while Russia uses its skills to attack the foundations of democracy, the U.S. could respond with its own âtools to attack their foundations of autocracy.â
[snip]
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