Foreword
Major General Marcus Thompson, AM
Deputy Chief Information Warfare
A new type of war has emerged, in which armed warfare has given up its decisive place in the achievement of the military and political objectives of war to another kind of warfare – information warfare.
- Kvachkov, V, Russia’s Special Purpose Forces,
Voyennaya Literatura
This special edition of the Australian Army Journal is about cyber-warfare. Everywhere we look, whether at work or at home, the cyber-threat is trending upwards and the risk is increasing. Developing defensive and offensive cyber capabilities in Army will demand focussed attention on information warfare operations and cyber-security as a necessary function of network operations. Army is actively pursuing a path to cyber- readiness, but many questions remain unanswered. This collection of articles explores the challenges and opportunities that lie within developing such a capability.
In his article, The Utility of Offensive Cyber-operations in Conventional Military Engagements, Captain Lachlan Abbott critically analyses the current and potential uses of cyber-operations in support of conventional military activity. This analysis considers whether cyber-operations are the latest fad of militaries attracted to technological solutions, or if cyberspace truly is another domain of warfare providing a measurable advantage to the stakeholder who can control it.
In Asymmetric Advantage in the Information Age: An Australian Concept for Cyber-Enabled ‘Special Information Warfare’, Captain Ben Johanson then considers the future operating environment. He suggests that a technologically-enabled Special Operations Task Group deployed against a hybrid threat could demonstrate the utility of developing a unified strategy of ‘Special Information Warfare’.
Cyber-attack is not just about theft of information but also the risk of data corruption through the insertion or modification of information and data to impact the operational or logistic decision cycles. Major Keyurkumar
Patel’s engaging article, Transforming Army’s Logistics Capabilities through Emerging Big Data Analytics – Challenges and Opportunities, explores the challenges to logistic systems posed by such cyber-attacks, impacting on operations through delays and loss of services.
Captain J demonstrates that the path to cyber-readiness and self-defence is through the individual member’s preparation in the cyber-environment. Examining the Australian Army Adaptation to Cyber-enabled Warfare –
Organisational and Cultural Challenges identifies that Army lags behind other developed countries’ national land forces in cyber-technology and identifies organisational changes that could speed up effective adaptation to a cyber mindset.
If amateurs talk tactics and professionals talk logistics, then Dr Benjamin Turnbull’s excellent piece Cyber-resilient Supply Chains: Mission Assurance in the Future Operating Environment brings home the importance of a military’s operational viability being threatened by cyber- attack on its logistics lines of communication. In his description of the ‘assume breach and fight through’ resilience required of mission-oriented digital – and even human – systems provides significant food for thought for where our Army needs to progress in its cyber-future.
Finally, in Australia’s Readiness for a Complex Cyber Catastrophe Lieutenant Jonathan Ladewig explores Australia’s readiness and disaster resilience, identifying Australia’s preparedness requirements to withstand a complex cyber-attack.
These writers, many of whom are undertaking graduate studies in new cyber-warfare programs, are the emerging experts in cyber technology for Army, and potential future leaders. Army needs champions of this new capability, but cannot do it alone. The ADF’s new Information Warfare Division along with Defence and other government departments, science and technology organisations, Defence industry and security partners, is embracing this new domain and allowing us to become masters of the information environment. I commend this special edition of the Australian Army Journal – Cyber-Warfare to you.
Marcus Thompson, AM
Major General
Deputy Chief Information Warfare
Major General Marcus Thompson, AM. Deputy Chief Information Warfare addresses a gathering of key stakeholders involved in Information Warfare. (Image: DoD)
