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09.09.2005

On some informational security problems

   

Gagik Harutyunyan 

In accordance with up-to-date ideas the conception of national security (NS) is a single whole of three constituent parts - military-political security, social-economic security and informational security. Disregard or underestimation of any of these parts makes any NS conception incomplete. Parallel with it, today military-political, social-economic and informational fields are integrated, that’s to say the boarders between NS constituent parts are often strictly relative.

On their turn the above mentioned NS fields are inclusive and are a unity of other component parts. Particularly informational security (IS) is an extensive and pithy conception, which includes not only the security problems of informational-technical systems but also everything concerning to spiritual-psychological, intellectual fields. It can be stated that IS is a little more directly connected with human, social and national factors then NA other components.

Concerning to the later, it’s worth mentioning that NS systems of Armenian state system representing Republic of Armenia (RA) and Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) as well as the other countries with a vast Diaspora must include the variety of problems concerning not only to RA population but also to the Armenians preservation.1In this context in any IS conceptual document of RA must be included some of the problems concerning to the Diaspora.

Infogen threats

IS functions are directly connected with so called infogen processes2which contain both positive-constructive and negative-destructive components of threat.

The infogen threats are divided into two main types.

  1. Technical kind of infogen threats, which are directed against the individual’s, society’s, nation’s and state’s activity organizing and coordinating informational-technical systems. These threats can be realized because of those systems’ technical vulnerability.
  2. Spiritual-ideological kind of infogen threats, which are directed against the individual’s, society’s, nation’s consciousness (subconsciousness), spiritual and civilization system of values. The realization of those threats is conditioned by the defaults in the sphere of “human and public” factors.

The main emphasis in the article is made on describing physiological, spiritual-ideological kinds of infogen threats.

The sources of infogen threats may be external and internal. The sources of external infogen treats may be:

  • RA strategic-tactic rival or adversary countries or organizations.
  • The countries and organizations pursuing their own interests but ignoring RA national interests among which may be RA political and economic partners.
  • Chaotic informational streams existing in the informational field which are not directed in particular against Armenia and have negative influence on public consciousness.

Sources of internal infogen threats may be:

  • Political, social organizations, economic companies and mass media deployed in Armenia but using foreign resources the activities of which are directed against RA national interests.
  • Domestic private and national resource based political, social organizations, economic companies, state bodies and mass media which don’t have clear-cut ideas concerning to RA national interests. As a result such structures may cause a source of infogen threat for RA society because of unintentionally or ideologically wrong orientation (such actions are sometimes qualified as “information warfare against your own nation”3).

As we can see the infogen threats’ disclosure and qualification are mainly conditioned by semantic ideas of national interests (NI). Thus, it can be stated as a fact that any elaboration of NS conception supposes more developed ideas and exact formulation of NI conception. Otherwise the internal threats exposure will be very disputable.

Positive infogen processes are conditioned by the formation of the informational-scientific field. It’s known that up-to-date informational field reflects hierarchic structure of progressive states which form the present world order. However the subjects with insignificant material resources can achieve sizeable results by acquiring necessary intellectual resources and ability to act asymmetrically. It’s remarkable that often these subjects are not necessarily states or at least they are not under the state’s direct control. This reality is reflected by the following conceptual ideas.4

  • Cyberpolitik- According to the research of the following term’s author David Rothkopf (1998), informational technological developments resulted in the traditional political sources-the states to lose their monopoly in the informational field. For instance in the past only special structures and diplomats knew what was happening in this or that part of the world, meanwhile anybody regularly using mass media or internet can also be informed that much.
  • Noopolitik (intellectual policy)- together with stating the fact of the state’s role reduction in their works published in 1999 John Arquilla and David Ronfeld think that the new subjects of policy-international organizations, mass media, transnational economic companies, terrorist and criminal structures have acquired intellectual/informational resources which let them carry out their own policy in global informational field.
  • Mediapolitik- This term was introduced by Lee Edwards in 2001. He has proved that internet and TV has turned into the policy’s most important factor. They have substantial role in foreign and home policy formation and attract the attention of society and authorities on this or that problem.

It must be particularly pointed out that today’s informational technologies provide a chance to form very efficient network structures from the standpoint of organizing to which special importance should be attach in case of pan-national projects. In this sense at present there are not current pan-Armenian positive ideas. That’s to say today 21st century pan-Armenian ideological field hasn’t formed yet.

Let’s note that under the circumstances of the new world order formation such a situation is not unique. In the similar situation have appeared not only Armenians but also Russian (the latter ones faced with a problem of Slavonic identity), Georgians, a number of European nations (German people in the post-war period were the subject of serious US and USSR propagandistic-organizational processing as a result of which they lost the main part of their national-ideological orientations and overviews). In this sphere we can notice the similar crisis in Anglo-Saxons and Jews as well, though they seem to be in comparably better conditions.

Informational wars

Informational activities and wars, directly connected with infogen threats, have always followed the mankind. However the modern form, essence and terminology of those functions formed during the first Iraqi war in 1991. In 1995 US National Defense University has published Martin Libick’s work titled “What is information warfare?” and in 1998 US Department of Defense promulgated the document of “Joint doctrine of informational activities”. In this document are formulated the following definitions of “informational war” conception and “informational activity” as its component part.

The informational activity is undertaken with an aim to hamper the process of information gathering, handling, transferring and securing by means of the enemy’s informational system at the same time preserving your own informational systems.

Informational war is a complex influence (by means of complex informational activities) on the enemy’s state system and military, political leadership, which in peace time may lead to the enemy’s favorable decision making to begin informational war and at the conflict period can completely paralyze the enemy led infrastructures functioning.

From the last definitions follow that particularly informational war is the practical realization of technical and spiritual-ideological kinds of infogen threats. American “RAND” Corporation’s specialists have worked out a new, the second generation’s informational war conception. If the first generation’s informational war was considered to be an important ingredient together with the war’s traditional nuclear, biological and other means then the second generation appears in a quite independent way. Among the problems solved by means of the second generation informational war let’s single out the following ones:

 

  1. Creation of negative approach to amoral, not spiritual atmosphere and to the enemy’s cultural heritage.
  2. Manipulation of the population’s social levels political orientation and public consciousness aiming to cause political tension and chaos.
  3. Destabilization of political relations between parties, instigation of violence against the opposition aiming to stir up conflicts and cause distrust and aggravation of political struggle.
  4. Information providing level decline for the administration and governing bodies, inspiration of erroneous management decisions.
  5. Disinformation of the population about the governing bodies work, undermining and discrediting the authorities.
  6. Instigation of social, political, national and religious clashes.
  7. Undermining of the state’s international authority and deterioration of its cooperation with the other states.
  8. Damaging the state’s vital interests in the fields of policy, economy, defense, etc.

As we can see spiritual-ideological factors are more then important in the second generation’s informational war. In RA all the above mentioned points of the IS field deserve attention and analyzing. Let’s point out that at the present stage of intense international streams many internal threats appearing in the internal field, such as “creation of negative approach to the enemy’s cultural heritage”, it’s almost impossible to protect ourselves by means of banning methods. It’s worth mentioning that this kind of informational confrontation is defined as “cultural war”. In this field only the existence of developed and universal ideas concerning to the same “cultural heritage” inside the IS system of the same country may be efficient. It’s also necessary to mention that in the 21st century some of the ideas concerning to this field need to be re-examined and developed5. We can also confirm that many points of the above mentioned list have been reflected in today’s “color revolution” events.

At present are worked out and parallel to it realized the principles of the third generation’s informational wars, which are based on so called “effects” and often represent a complex of actions submitting to synergetic regularity in several fields simultaneously.6

Informational wars as the main tool of geoideology

The above mentioned new generation’s informational wars are the technological basis which makes for the geoideological doctrines’ domination over traditional geopolitical or geoeconomic approaches.7 Thus the influence exercised by means of informational activities and informational wars is a technological tool for the subject aiming to realize his strategic plans.

The military-political strategy’s realization by means of informational activities is a component part of noopolitik. Noopolitik is wildly used in today’s international practice little by little forcing out some elements of traditional way of policy conduct. It’s considered that noopolitik or as it is sometimes defined soft power also characterizes the ability of this or that states to implement postmodern stile of policy.8

It’s remarkable that the analyzing of the informational activities directed against the country’s national interests let as disclose the implemented strategic nuances which are not always possible to reveal by other means. At the same time infogen threats revelation is only possible by continuous monitoring and analyzing of the informational field: only operative-investigational measures are obviously inefficient for this problem’s solution.

One must take into consideration that at the present economic condition RA’s mass media need continuous financial support. That’s to say some of them get the necessary funding by “shadow” means and in return to it take the responsibility of elucidating this or that phenomenon from a certain standpoint. Such publications and broadcastings are presented as freedom of speech. At the same time the views of the “sponsors” (among them may also be other nations’ interests representatives) not always agree with RA security terms and interests. That’s why it is advisable:

  • To set up small professional group, this will undertake RA press and TV programs analyzing from the standpoint of informational security.
  • The publications and broadcastings not meeting the informational security requirements and revealed as a result of such a monitoring will be a subject of a closer inspection, maybe together with other governmental structures, aiming to disclose the sources of possible influence and acting mechanisms.
  • The revelation of the above mentioned mechanisms will provide a chance to work out a complex of necessary actions which will allow to change the certain mass media’s orientation by avoiding censorial and administrative kinds of intervention and not violating the law of freedom of press.

In addition to the above mentioned in IS system should operate necessary mechanisms providing the governing bodies, enterprises and society with reliable information and overwhelming analyzing of informational stream. In case of non-observance of this initial condition the adequate decision making by the governing bodies is under the threat. In this context it’s worth mentioning that it’s preferable for the governing bodies to get information not only from the intelligence services under their direct control but also from the network of informational-analyzing structures, which are under the support of the government but have independent status (here it’s worth mentioning that the analyzing of the information got from open sources allows to have 80-90% of close information9). The formed infrastructure by itself is the most important part of the IS system. At the same time such an infrastructure supposes that mechanisms ensuring government-intelligence-analytic centers effective cooperation must be worked out.

Analytic or as they are often called think tanks must have an important role in informational offensive or defensive actions. In this problem a special importance should be attached to the role of these centers’ stuff, being the carriers of information, knowledge and technologies, national ideas, spiritual and cultural values, national traditions they must be a subject of special concern in IS system.

The last point requires special observation as it is usually not a subject of discussion. It should be pointed out one more time that at the heart of informational security is the specific gravity of the society’s general knowledge and its intellectual potential, which is the most actual parameter of the state’s and nation’s competitiveness and the pledge of its further existence. It’s worth mentioning that by these parameters RA has begun to yield not only to economically developed countries but also to its close neighbors Georgia and Azerbaijan. And this is in case when at Soviet period our Republic was in comparatively leading position in this sphere, that’s to say in 1991 RA was in a essentially more favorable starting point.

Conclusion

Of course the above mentioned short theses need to be thoroughly worked out and discussed. At the same time any informational security system must somehow touch upon the complex of above mentioned questions concerning to certain developments and realities. The first step made in IS field should be the thorough working out of the informational security conception and the corresponding package of legislation. Such activities are important not only from the standpoint of legislation stating but also because the process of working out such a document and it’s further discussions allow to form the community of specialists who will be able to practically realize IS conception’s regulations.

1According to us RA and NKR NS systems must be if not analogous or common but at least compatible. Hereinafter instead of RA and NKR abbreviations and the conception of Armenian nation will only be used RA abbreviation.

2Гагик Тер–Арутюнянц, Инфогенные вызовы, Голос Армении, 08.12.2001; Гагик Тер–Арутюнянц, «Инфогенные» вызовы, в сб. «Информационные войны», серия «Мир сегодня», #4, с. 5. Ереван, 2002, Գագիկ Հարությունյան, ՀՀ տեղեկատվական համակարգի զարգացման հիմնախնդիրները ազգային անվտանգության համատեքստում, էջ 25, «Նորավանք» ԳԿՀ, Երևան, 2003։

3Георгий Почепцов, Информационные войны, «Рефл-бук», «Ваклер», 2001.

4Washington Profile, #47(564), 05.05.2005.

5Գագիկ Տերտերյան, Հոգևոր անվտանգության խնդիրների շուրջ, «Հանրապետական», #6 (26), էջ 1, 2005։

6Сергей Гриняев, «Поле битвы-киберпространство», Минск, Харвест 2004; Գագիկ Տերտերյան, Կենսատեղեկատվական պատերազմներ, «Հանրապետական», #3 (12), էջ 15, 2004։

7Գագիկ Տեր-Հարությունյան, Աշխարհաքաղաքականությունից դեպի աշխարհագաղափարախոսություն, «Հանրապետական», #3 (23), էջ 28, 2005։

8Елен Александр Доронин, «Бизнес-разведка», «Ось-89», Москва, 2002.

9Александр Доронин, «Бизнес-разведка», «Ось-89», Москва, 2002.


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