Page:United States Army Field Manual 3-13 Information Operations.djvu/10

 • US governmental agencies. • Nongovernmental organizations. • Agencies that coordinate international efforts. • Social and cultural elements, and their leaders. • Leaders of other Services, multinational partners, and adversaries. • Individuals able to communicate with a worldwide audience. • The news media.

1-5. All military operations take place within the information environment, much of which is largely outside the control of Army forces. Commanders consider the political and social implications that isolated small unit actions might produce. Within this context, commanders face many new challenges and opportunities. The complex relationship among political, strategic, technological, and military factors requires adopting a broad perspective of how operations and the information environment affect each other. INFORMATION-ENVIRONMENT-BASED THREATS Threat Capabilities and Sources

1-6. Information-environment-based threats target one of three objects: commanders and other important decisionmakers, C2 systems, or information systems (INFOSYS). The Army defines a command and control system as the arrangement of personnel, information management, procedures, and equipment and facilities essential to the commander to conduct operations (FM 6-0). The Army defines information systems as the equipment and facilities that collect, process, store, display, and disseminate information. This includes computers—hardware and software—and communications, as well as policies and procedures for their use (FM 3-0). C2 systems contain INFOSYS. Preventing commanders from exercising effective C2 is the goal of adversaries operating in the information environment. They seek to achieve it by attacking C2 systems or the INFOSYS they contain. 1-7. Threats against friendly C2 systems vary across the spectrum of conflict (peace, crisis, and war) and by potential adversaries’ technical capabilities and motivation (see FM 3-0). Threats have many sources and use many attack methods. Commanders and staffs evaluate them based on several criteria— some technical, some not. The following paragraphs discuss threat capabilities and sources, methods of attack, and evaluation criteria. 1-8. Most threats to units engaged in offensive, defensive, and stability operations are straightforward and familiar. During these types of operations, commanders expect adversaries to conduct some form of IO against them and their C2 systems. They assume that adversaries will use multiple means to try to deny them information, cast doubts on information they have, and disrupt their decisionmaking process. However, the information environment contains other threats as well. These threats are worldwide, technically multifaceted, and growing. They come from a range of sources with varying capabilities— from individuals, to organizations, to nation-states. Military, political, social, cultural, ethnic, religious, or personal factors may motivate them. Commanders anticipate these threats, prepare defenses, and—when appropriate—conduct IO against them.