Interesting.

Diane

Pentagon labels computer morphing a war crime

BY DANIEL VERTON (dan_verton@fcw.com)

http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/1108/web-dod-11-12-99.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

A Defense Department study on how international law could be applied to the military's use of information operations (IO) and computer network attack concludes that though there are no show stoppers preventing the Department's use of such tactics in war, communicating false computer-generated images would be a war crime.

Although "it might be possible to use computer 'morphing' techniques to create an image of the enemy's chief of state informing his troops that an armistice or cease-fire had been signed," such images, "if false, would also be a war crime," concluded the study, which was completed in May and publicly released this week.

According to the study, "An Assessment of International Legal Issues in Information Operations," creating false computer-generated images through morphing would violate one of the traditional principles of the law of war -- perfidy. "The long-distance and anonymous nature of computer network attacks may make detection and prosecution unlikely, but it is the firmly established policy of the United States that U.S. forces will fight in full compliance with the law of war," the study concluded.

The study comes just months after the Pentagon institutionalized IO -- which include psychological operations, electronic warfare, physical attacks or destruction of enemy information systems and various forms of computer network attack -- as a key strategy in all future military plans. Public statements by senior Pentagon officials indicate that DOD waged some sort of offensive IO campaign during recent operations in Kosovo.

The use of IO tactics, such as deception and perception management, was first publicly discussed last year by John Yurechko, senior-level expert for IO in the Defense Intelligence Agency's Office of Information Warfare, at a military intelligence conference in Arlington, Va. [FCW, May 25,1998].

During his presentation, Yurechko showed the audience a 1938 picture of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin standing beside Nikolai Yezhov, then head of the Soviet Union's state security agency. Using a simple airbrush technique, DIA removed Yezhov from the photo with little or no evidence of tampering. The same thing can be done to videos, according to Yurechko, who conceded that morphing and other video manipulation techniques can be seen everyday in TV commercials.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999

Answers

Shades within shades.

So... who thinks the potential global Y2K situation would be treated any differently? Or has been... already?

Diane

MAY 25, 1998

INTERNET

Spies turn to high-tech info ops

PCs, Internet used for manipulating images, public opinion

BY DANIEL VERTON

http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1998/0525/fcw-frontrspies-5-25- 1998.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Federal intelligence agencies are studying ways to use computers and the Internet, rather than just leaflets and radio broadcasts, to shape and disseminate information designed to sway public opinion in the world's hot spots.

As part of its so-called "perception management" program, the intelligence community has for decades created misinformation to trigger political change without direct political or military involvement in countries where the United States has vested interests, such as Iraq and North Korea.

Acting on congressional recommendations to bolster research and development in information technology, intelligence agencies are turning to PCs to develop more sophisticated means of manipulating and delivering digital photos, video clips and recorded sound to portray fictitious events in hopes of provoking desirable outcomes.

Speaking at a military intelligence conference last week, John Yurechko, senior-level expert for information operations in the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) Office of Information Warfare, said the intelligence community is combining theories of cognitive psychology with computers, and the use of information technology is ushering in a new era in information operations.

Officials from the CIA declined to comment.

"The so-called offensive information operations are extremely important for this nation" and have been given special attention in the fiscal 1999 Intelligence Authorization Act, a congressional staff member said. Use of the Internet and video editing tools as a way to shape public opinion in places such as Iraq, the source said, "should be just another part of the intelligence toolkit."

Advanced software tools can manipulate photographs and videos to create images based on events and situations that never occurred, which can, in turn, be broadcast to foreign countries via the Internet. For example, intelligence agencies may wish to convince a world leader that a massive invasion is imminent by broadcasting manipulated video news clips depicting the presence of a large military force -- much larger than actually exists.

The hope, said the congressional source, is that by "having such a capability, we would avoid having to actually deploy troops."

Because the Internet knows no borders, there may be risks involved in using the technology, including possible breaches of intelligence oversight regulations, which spell out what the intelligence community can and cannot do within U.S. borders. "Because it involves national security, the risks are worth it," the congressional source said.

DIA is upgrading its military intelligence databases to include photographs, 3-D images and video clips that could be used to create in-depth personality profiles to help analysts discern how foreign military leaders react to information and make decisions, according to a source in the intelligence community.

"DIA has recognized that this is an area we have to focus on," a DIA spokesman said. However, using the term information operations "is really putting a new label on things that have been going on for years," he said. Information operations "can run the gamut of what you might call psychological operations [to] what you might call deception," he said.

To prove this point, Yurechko showed a 1938 picture of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin standing beside Nikolai Yezhov, then head of the Soviet Union's "state security" agency. Using an airbrush technique, DIA was able to remove Yezhov from the photo with little or no evidence of tampering. The same process can be applied to videos, Yurechko said.

The Office of Information Warfare was created in August 1996 with a staff of seven analysts. Today it has a staff of 100 and a dedicated collection team established within DIA's Directorate of Intelligence focused solely on information operations and information warfare.

The Internet and other advanced information technologies have become natural candidates for getting messages -- truthful and deceptive -- out to people, said John Pike, a defense and intelligence analyst with the Federation of American Scientists . [added link]

"In the past, leaflets didn't have much staying power," Pike said, whereas the Internet "is an incredibly powerful medium."

Pike said that if the intelligence community does not provide information to places such as Iraq and North Korea, then somebody else will. "That will force [the intelligence community] to deal with the reality created by somebody else," he said.

But Barry Steinhartt, president of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Americans who have access to the Internet also will be able to view the manipulated images. "The Internet is a borderless medium, and U.S. counterintelligence and propaganda can easily be read by Americans," he said. "It is probably time to look at the regulations that govern these agencies" to develop rules to take into account the nature of global communications.

Randall Whitaker, an analyst at the Air Force Research Laboratory, also said delivering propaganda via the Internet is risky. By distributing those images globally via the Internet, Randall wonders, "Who's more at risk: the deceivers or the receivers?"

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

DECEMBER 7, 1998

Pentagon dubs cyberspace as key battlefield

BY BOB BREWIN (antenna@fcw.com)
AND DANIEL VERTON (dan_verton@fcw.com)

http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1998/1207/fcw-newscyber-12-7- 98.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

SAN DIEGO -- The Defense Department last week revealed its plan for how the military services will carry out offensive and defensive information operations in future wars -- a move that holds wide- ranging implications for information systems.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff formally codified in October an Information Operations (IO) doctrine when it endorsed a guidance document called "Joint Publication 3-13," according to Daniel Kuehl, chairman of the Information Operations Department, School of Information Warfare and Strategy at the National Defense University.

Kuehl said the new doctrine treats cyberspace as "a critical environment [and] moves information operations from an ad hoc process and institutionalizes it."

Although doctrinal publications are rarely visionary in nature, " 'Joint Pub 3-13' was clearly written with Joint Vision 2010 in mind," Kuehl said. Joint Vision 2010 is a DOD effort to create seamless battlefield communications across the services. "This [new document] institutionalizes a process for looking at IO as a strategy and makes it part of the planning process for all joint [military] plans."

"Our ability to conduct peacetime theater engagement, to forestall or prevent crisis and conflict, and to fight and win is critically dependent on effective IO at all levels of war and across the range of military operations," wrote Army Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in his introduction to "Joint Doctrine for Information Operations." Shelton said that IO, which includes both offensive and defensive information warfare operations, is as crucial to the national defense as air, land or naval operations.

Offensive IO will include such existing military operations as psychological operations, electronic warfare, physical attacks or destruction of enemy information systems, special information operations "and may include computer network attack," Shelton said. The doctrine foresees offensive IO conducted "at all levels of war -- strategic, operational and tactical -- throughout the battlespace," he said.

The doctrine broadens the definition of an adversary, including not only attacks by a known enemy state but also any IO threat "that is organized, resourced and politically sponsored [and] motivated to affect decision-makers," including hackers, criminals and organized crime, industrial and economic espionage, and in some cases, terrorism, Shelton said.

"This threat requires monitoring for indications of a specific IO threat and subsequently may require additional IO defensive measures," according to Shelton.

DOD plans to give primary responsibility for information operations to the joint commands, such as the Atlantic Command, the Pacific Command and the Central Command and their subordinate Joint Task Forces. The doctrine calls for the Joint Force Commands to staff so-called IO cells, with staff being drawn from existing combatant commands.

The National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Information Systems Agency will support IO for the combatant commands and the Joint Staff. The DIA will be given the responsibility of selecting key offensive IO targets, help combat commanders develop a command intelligence architecture to support IO and detect IO attacks in cooperation with DISA.

DISA will be charged with protecting the Defense Information Infrastructure, and the NSA will provide information security and operational security products as well as analyze the vulnerability and threats to U.S. and allied information systems. On the operational side, the Special Forces Command was directed to begin IO training and "organize forces with capabilities to conduct IO...across the range of military operations," Shelton said.

A Pentagon source said the Joint Chiefs have put an "intense" effort behind the newly established Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense, which is located in DISA's Global Security Operations Center. In addition, the newly prescribed doctrine may pave the way for use of the reserves in a homeland cyberdefense role, the source said.

Lt. Col. Kathleen Harrison, director of the Command and Control Branch of the Doctrine Division at the Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va., said no great policy changes have taken place yet in light of the new doctrine guidance. However, Harrison said the Navy and Marine Corps plan to issue in the summer a Naval Command and Control Warfare Doctrine publication, which will consider the new guidance published by the JCS.

[Side Note: Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va. -- is the home of our Urban Warrior groups. You know. The ones practicing for Y2K].

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

I'm sure that anyone we might get into a war with will be willing to fight under Marquis of Queensbury rules. Yeah, right.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), November 13, 1999.

I'm Here, I'm There,

Don't dispute that this is "the shape of things to come" but what precludes OUR dot mils, dot govs, et. al., from using the same tactics on... "US?"

Somehow, kind'a think Y2K disinformation (a' la Koskinen and his "perception management" via The Rendon Group) was the first real "test" of the IO system.

Go back to sleep.

Diane, zzzzzzzzzz

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

Diane, I don't doubt for a minute anymore that TPTB wouldn't use whatever tactic on us that they'd use on any "official" bad guys in the world. They already have, in the past; and I'm sure they have a few more tricks up their sleeve for the future. Can't tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), November 13, 1999.

Please direct me to more information about the Rendon Group, especially as it pertains to Koskinen and Y2K. Do we have a thread or threads in the archives? Where can I find out more about this part of the equation?

-- (normally@ease.notnow), November 13, 1999.

'Thou shalt not bear false witness.'

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), November 13, 1999.

So... who thinks the potential global Y2K situation would be treated any differently? Or has been... already?

Good point Diane.

-- a (a@a.a), November 13, 1999.

TPTB obviously (if your're willing to observe) have no qualms about screwing with anyone -- foreigners or their own citizens -- to maintain and increase their power. Whatver it takes. It's as simple as that.

Anyone who thinks that "their" government exists to protect them against "nasty" foreigners/foreign leaders is hopelessly naive (clueless). TPTB have no hesitation is using the same disinformation techniques against their own citizenry as they do against others in the world. Wake up!!

-- A (A@AisA.com), November 13, 1999.

...which confirms that the "core infrastructure" is at greater risk than it may ever have been before;

the only question remaining is :

who, i.e. how many sides, have the 'stuff' with which to bring the system down - first??

victors? vanquished? motives? spoils?

Great find, Diane!

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), November 13, 1999.

So, are you saying that all those images of Caligula Clintoon we see are nothing more than morphed images of a Max Headroom clone?

That while we were watching Clintoon deny he ever had sex wth "that woman", he, at that very moment, was actually being serviced by an intern?

Gullible, stupid sheeple.

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), November 13, 1999.

Diane--

Great find. I wonder where the IO techs are practicing their games?!?

Perhaps the .gov shill theory isn't so far off. Your posts are very timely and interesting, thank you.

[Side Note: Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va. -- is the home of our Urban Warrior groups. You know. The ones practicing for Y2K].

-- *** (karlacalif@aol.com), November 14, 1999.

*snip* However, using the term information operations "is really putting a new label on things that have been going on for years," he said. Information operations "can run the gamut of what you might call psychological operations [to] what you might call deception," he said. *end snip*

This phrase says it all. It's been going on for years. Nothing to get in an uproar about. We should all be aware that it's going on and keep in mind that this technology can be and is used on American citizens in the name of "the war on drugs" and various others.

-- Cmdr Don (cmdrdon@mad.scientist.com), November 14, 1999.

Diane,

Thanks for posting this. This is such an important issue! Many people here take this knowledge for granted, but so many people out there don't realise that the day may have arrived, that we cannot even believe what we see with our own eyes.

Brings new meaning for me to the phrase 'walk by faith, not by sight'.

As always your contributions are much appreciated. :-)

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.

Deborah,

Used to do a lot of computer imaging. Granted for landscapers, architects, interior designers and on a beauty system. Always found it "amazable" what kinds of photo-realism can be done... by a good imaging artist.

Diane

As to the Rendon Group...

See also...

Check out the Navy's Virtual Community Conversation on 6/15, and a look at who created the .gov Community Conversation series.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 00106v

They toned down their web-site's http://www.rendon.com/about.htm About message.

Now begins with...

At The Rendon Group, we believe in people. This belief stems from our admiration and respect for cultural diversity, and in the wisdom and knowledge that come from the relationships we have formed with people and organizations around the globe.

We help governments, companies and organizations identify and achieve their goals by providing comprehensive strategic communications counsel. We are committed to helping people win in the global marketplace by providing distinctive approaches to communications challenges.

We take pride in empowering people with technology and skills that give them opportunity, vision and success. Wherever we work, we maintain the characteristics of a small firm, providing personal involvement and a commitment to working directly with our clients. ...

(Compared to what it used to be)

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.