World in Flux - The Aries Edition: Information War

Intro

With the world seemingly teetering on the brink of full scale international wars once more, knowing what weapons are available to both our allies and our opponents makes it easier for the Humans caught in the middle to begin building defences against them. In this article, we shall first look over some methods used within the Information War, secondly focusing on the Cyber War as a specific branch of the Information War. Scroll straight down to pt2 if you want to skip straight to Cyber.

Pt. 1: Information Warfare

No longer are wars decided by who has the sharpest swords, the biggest guns or the longest range bombs (if they ever really were). Today, we live in an age of unprecedented amounts of information immediately at our fingertips. This proliferation has caused some Humans to lose sight of what is considered Truth. When genuine Truth is lost, a myriad of evils lurks within the shadows caused by its absence. And since the fingertips in question may only touch a mouse, keyboard or phone screen, the methods of determining Truth are far less satisfactory than perhaps they should be. For instance, if you pick up what appears to be a wooden cup only to find it is made of plastic, your fingertips have facilitated a revelation of Truth.

In the realm of digital information, what looks like wood may never really be verified as such, because there is no way to pick up the item inside the screen. Therefore the normal checks are restricted when the viewer is forced to make a decision based on appearances only.

Take the bed opposite, for instance. At a glance it looks just like an ordinary bed, but is in fact a miniature for a doll's house. Stories of people abound who've purchased such items under the false impression it was a full sized bed may raise a smile, but the lesson has profound implications. A closer look may make it seem a little obvious, but not always.

Information and misinformation, are two core weapons used with the startling efficacy in the battle of heart and minds. The hearts and minds strategy is usually waged long before engaging an enemy, because the degree of social cohesion within the opponent's force represents a significant obstacle between an aggressor and his victory.

Yet although the content of information may be used to mislead or confuse, at other times it does not matter what the information is. By simply overwhelming a target with data, similar to the form of DDoS attacks, legitimate threats hide within a slush of entirely useless information. The threat is in the quantity, not its quality. In the Human realm, main-stream news outlets can cover everything from the number of sequins on dresses at awards ceremonies to the price of wheat in China ... the unfortunate consequence of which is that our ability to distinguish what is important to know becomes impeded by the sheer amount of data to sift through and the hi-jacking of our more basic impulses, when useful information is lost.

"Were you listening to me or were you looking at the woman in the [pink] dress?" Morpheus, The Matrix

A nation's power degrades at alarming speeds if people become cold and/or hungry. In the case of an aggressor seeks to break the spirit of an opponent prior to physical engagement, it does so by means of food shortages, general fear, demoralisation and so forth. Less risk is involved and chances are higher to emerge victorious when meeting a disorganised enemy face-to-face. Conversely, when an opponent's forces are strongly unified and prepared the outcome of conflict is far less clear.

He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. Sun Tzu, The Art of War

To break in mind or spirit, Information sent is the first weapon, deployed from a distance with the intention of manipulating the actions of the receiver of the information. Whether this information is True or False is far less important than what the receiver believes to be true. In the Natural world for example, the harmless Hover fly looks similar enough to a Wasp at first glance that predators (or panicking toddlers) give up before they start.

In times gone by, information between Humans was conveyed through immediate word-of-mouth. A limiting factor of meaningful communication at this time was that people must be in the same Place to share a message. As civilisations developed and codes of writing emerged, information was carried over vast distances. The next limiting factor to emerge was Time; as written messages would be conveyed over great distances; sometimes taking days, months or even years between sending and receiving.

Fast forward to the modern day and both Time and Place limitations have been removed. Messages are transported in real time over great distances.

Today's challenge is now all about validating the Truth of a message, and is something the world is struggling to resolve. How to trust what you see on a screen is real? Only very recently, deepfakes of the Ukrainian President caused a furore due to some believing that the information the image represented was True.

The image adjacent, wonderfully created by Rene Magritte, clearly shows a pipe with the words in French saying "This is not a Pipe".

Confusing at first, the idea Mr Magritte conveys so well is that this is not a pipe, but merely a picture of a pipe. This demonstrates how easily our senses are deceived.

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Pt2: Cyber Warfare

RS22 is a humble Human company specialising in IT Security, so we advise you to make up your own mind based on information played out on your many private screens. However, let's move on to how the problem of how Truth confuses Technology too.

Determining the Truth of data is a significant challenge in more ways than one.

A compromised computer system doesn't immediately detect an intruder's presence as a threat. In essence, it doesn't know it's been breached. It sometimes lacks the feedback capacity to understand that what is happening within it's self is incorrect. Unlike a Human who knows when something feels wrong on a gut level, an IT system's lack of Threat Detection means intruders can move about its Networks unimpeded, wreaking havoc by shutting down key systems, stealing assets for later use or generally being a nuisance.

Hence, Threat Detection software becomes a necessity for every business, because it equates to an immune system within a Human's body. Both works because the habits of intruders are dissimilar to standard users and once spotted the intrusions of parasites can be brought to a swift end.

RS22 offer various types of Threat Detection software, so that even if the #Databandits do gain access to your estate, they are active for far less time, ergo doing less damage... website link below, contact us for more information. Think of it as a parasitic cleanse for your System.

In general, the types of Cyber attacks taking place across the world that make even the most stouthearted pause are the ones directly targeting Information Systems pertaining to the support of the Human requirements at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy.

These categories are Warmth, Food, Drink, Rest and Security; i.e. the basic foundations of daily life. Therefore, when Hackers target those supply chains providing our Foods or Fuels, the immediate social cohesion of the National System is likely to fall into complete chaos as people spend their effort on basic Human survival.

These supply attacks have been increasing as drastic rates, from the Colonial Pipeline's Fuel, to JBS' meat supply last year to the very long and constantly growing list of attacks between Russia and Ukraine at this moment. Consider the violence seen between Humans at gas stations when even a rumour of a shortage arises, let alone a genuine threat.

This means that if?an opponent out there is intent on destruction, they would target our base supply chains first, and therefore these systems NEED the best available IT security.

Second rate technology gets breached by first rate technology almost every time. And if an attacker has the full support of a hostile government at its disposal, the chances are they're using the best technology available. Of course, great defence is not cheap, but we are happy to discuss solutions that can help us all in the bigger picture.

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RS22 is an IT Security firm that puts Humans before Technology. Save yourself and your loved ones first, then come back to us and save your business second. We need everyone on board to see what is coming.

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