Thursday, September 14, 2006

Internet PSYOPS - Psychological Operations

Psychological operations or PSYOPS is an indirect use of information warfare methods to deceive, shape and influence the behavior and attitude of the targeted audience -- military marketers with greater access to resources and know-how. The Internet acting as a global-reaching, cost-effective platform for dissemination of a message, rumor, lie, inside information is directly influencing the evolution of the concept.

You may find this research conducted back in 2001, still relevant on the basics of psychological operations and propaganda online. A brief summary of The Internet and Psychological Operations :

"As an information medium and vehicle of influence, the Internet is a powerful tool, in both open societies as well as in those whose only glimpse of the outside world is increasingly viewed and shaped through webpages, E-mail, and electronic chat rooms. Moreover, the sword cuts both ways, as unconstrained (legally, socially, politically) adversaries find the Internet an effective vehicle for influencing popular support for their cause or inciting the opposite against the U.S. or its interests. Consequently, the realm of military psychological operations (PSYOP) must be expanded to include the Internet. Just as obvious is the need for action to remove or update current policy and legal constraints on the use of the Internet by military PSYOP forces, allowing them to embrace the full range of media, so that the U.S. will not be placed at a disadvantage. Although current international law restricts many aspects of PSYOP either through ambiguity or noncurrency, there is ample legal room for both the U.S. and others to conduct PSYOP using modern technology and media such as the Internet. Existing policy and legal restrictions, however, must be changed, allowing military PSYOP forces to both defend and counter adversarial disinformation and propaganda attacks which impact on the achievement of military objectives. By examining this issue, I hope to highlight the importance of the Internet for PSYOP and foment further discussion."

Undoubtedly, Abu Ghraib's fiasco is among the most relevant cases of unintentional PSYOPS in reverse, where the leak's echo effect would continue to spell sskepticism towards what democracy really is. And while there're indeed legal issues to consider when using such operations, what is legal and illegal in times of war is questionable.

Some basic examples:
- your web sites spread messages of your enemies
- sms messages and your voice mail say you're about to lose the war
- your fancy military email account is inaccessible due to info-warriors utilizing the power of the masses, thus script kiddies to distract the attention
- you gain participation, thus support
- you feel like Johnny Mnemonic taking the elevator to pick up the 320 GB of R&D data when a guerilla info-warrior appears on the screen and wakes you up on your current stage of brainwashing
- starting from the basics that the only way to ruin a socialist type of government is to introduce its citizens to the joys of capitalism -- it always works
- hacktivism - traffic acquisition plus undermining confidence
- propaganda - North Korea is quite experienced
- self-serving news items, commissioned ones
- achieving Internet echo as a primary objective
- introducing biased exclusiveness
- stating primary objectives as facts that have already happened
- impersonation

The evolution of online PSYOPS is on its way and is actively utilized by both adversaries, and everyone in between, it's entirely up to you to be either objective, or painfully subjective.

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