WARLORDS AND TERRORISTS ON THE INFORMATION SUPER-HIGHWAY:
THE MOST DANGEROUS USES OF INFORMATION WARFARE
by
Daniel Glen Pinegar
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree
with Honors in Political Science
in the College of Liberal Arts
of The University of Iowa
May 1998
Thesis Supervisor: Assistant Professor K. Kadera
Copyright by
DANIEL GLEN PINEGAR
1998
All Rights Reserved
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
___________________________
B.A. SENIOR HONORS THESIS
___________
This is to certify that the B.A. Senior Honors Thesis of
Daniel Glen Pinegar
has been approved by the the Examining Supervisor
for the thesis requirement for the Bachelor of Arts degree
with Honors in Political Science at the May 1998 graduation.
___________
To the spirit of hard work, leadership and truth that rests within us all.
"He knows the way that I take. When He has tested me, I will come forth as gold."
The Bible: Job 23:10
"But if they hear not, they shall pass by the sword, and shall be consumed in folly."
The Bible: Job 36:12
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Pages not applicable for on-line version)
Page
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ii
DEDICATION iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
ILLUSTRATIONS v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS vi
PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER
I. Introduction to Information Warfare and Conventional Terrorism 5
II. Operational Tactics 20
III. Targets 35
IV. The Nature of the Actors 48
V. Reasons and Justifications Behind Information Terrorism 64
VI. Strategies and Solutions to Combat Information Terrorism 73
CONCLUSION 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY 100
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
I.1 Coincidence or Attack 4
1.1 What Comprises IW? 19
3.1 Direct and Indirect Terrorism 46
3.2 The Internet and Vulnerability 46
3.3 Examples of IW Targets 47
3.4 Future Vulnerabilities 47
4.1 Terrorist Organization Hierarchy 62
4.2 Availability of Technical Tools 62
4.3 Access to Information 63
5.1 Loss of Sanctuary 72
6.1 GWEN Relay Node Diagram 85
6.2 GWEN System Evolution 86
6.3 Merging Separate Disciplines 87
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS
ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
ATM Automatic Teller Machine
C2/C2W Command and Control Warfare
C3I Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence
C4I Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence
CERT Computer Emergency Response Team
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CNN Cable News Network
CPU Central Processing Unit
CRS Congressional Research Service
CT Conventional Terrorism
DES Data Encryption Standard
DISA Defense Information Systems Agency
DoD Department of Defense
EMP/T Electromagnetic Pulse Transformer
EW Electronic Warfare
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigations
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
GAO General Accounting Office
GII Global Information Infrastructure
HERF High Energy Radio Frequency
IASIW Institute for the Advanced Study of Information Warfare
IBW Intelligence Based Warfare
IRS Internal Revenue Service
IW Information Warfare
ITAC International Terrorist Assessment Center
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff
LAN Local Area Network
LOD Legion of Doom
M19 Movement of 19 April (Marxist-Lenist terrorist group in Columbia)
MILSTAR Military Strategic and Tactical Relay Satellite System
MOD Masters of Deception
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NEST Nuclear Emergency Search Team
NII National Information Infrastructure
NORAD North American Defense Air Command
NSA National Security Agency
NSC National Security Council
PCCIP President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection
PGP Pretty Good Privacy (encryption software)
PGM Precision Guided Missile
PLO Palestine Liberation Organization
PSN or PTN Public Switching Network or Public Telecommunications Network
PSYOPS Psychological Operations
RAM Read Access Memory
SAC Strategic Air Command
SAIC Science Applications International Corporation
UN United Nations
US United States
USAF United States Air Force
USIA United States Information Agency
PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
This thesis was written with the basic parts of scientific research in mind: description, explanation, prediction and proscription, along with a problem-solution and topical approach. As such it is important to understand how I have organized my thesis as to hold judgment on any one part of it until the whole is understood. The introduction is meant to broadly explain the importance of both information warfare and conventional terrorism, and establish the need to define what happens when the conventional terrorist uses information warfare.
Chapter one is mostly a descriptive introduction to both information warfare and conventional terrorism. Within each of the following chapters I examine certain aspects of information warfare and conventional terrorism, explaining the similarities or differences between them. Following each chapter I come to the conclusion that when conventional terrorists use information warfare substantial changes occur. These changes demonstrate why I label conventional terrorists who use information warfare as information terrorists. Nonetheless, while there are important and consequential differences between conventional terrorism and information warfare, and the transformation between them is rocky, it is the process of switching from conventional to information terrorism that is problematic. Understanding information terrorism is important because I explain why it is problematic and later demonstrate that the United States is poorly prepared to defend against the use of either IW or information terrorism in the same way that the U.S. tries to defend or counter-act conventional terrorism. While my thesis cannot be complete in every respect, it is written in a way to hopefully spark questions that we must all consider to address the problem of information terrorism, if not solutions.
In addition, this thesis was possible only with the continued support and tolerance of the faculty at the University of Iowa, my friends and my family. Specifically, I wish to thank Professor Kadera, Professor Hingstman, Dr. David Klemm, the Honors Program, Jolynne "Joey" Roorda, and the Iowa Rhetoric Writing Lab.
Copyright Dan Pinegar 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001. All Rights Reserved. Thesis available for academic, research or intelligence purposes only. Please notify author if citing within research document or for permission to republish substantive sections or chapters in whole or in part. Thank you.