Information Warfare and Deception

This paper examines the history of the phenomenon of Information Warfare and the increasingly dominant role that deception is taking within its framework. The concept of information warfare began as a technology oriented tactic to gain information dominance by superior command and control. This soon developed into a realization of the power of information as both a ‘weapon’ as well as a ‘target’. The importance of information rather than its associated vehicle – information technology − created a situation where influence became a critical factor in conflict. As the nature of conflict changed to being an almost ongoing situation, control over mass communication became a high priority task for governments as well as the military. As such, the manipulation of information became an essential function. Thus, the world of deception became an integral part of official communications between governments and their constituency.