Rethinking Defensive Information Warfare

Although the origins of information warfare lie in the defense of critical computer systems, defensive information warfare (DIW) per se has advanced little beyond an information assurance model. Information assurance is an integral part of any military organization’s operations, but it falls far short of meeting the needs for robust defense of critical command-and-control (C2) computer networks against a sophisticated adversary. By looking at the ways that militaries have responded to challenging defensive situations in the past, some insights can be made into the nature of IW and potential application of conventional operations. This paper examines defensive tactics and strategies—from the German defense in depth that emerged from World War I to the American Active Defense that developed in the Cold War—and proposes a new mindset for DIW that draws on these operational concepts from military history.