Misinformation, fake news, or information warfare, the concept is not new, but technology and innovation have created an expressway for its dissemination. An information warfare network, known as @HutEighteen, was launched on the 24 November in partnership with the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom for those operating in the field to collaborate and act as a force multiplier.
Information warfare is “controlling one’s own information space, protecting access to one’s own information, while acquiring and using the opponent’s information, destroying their information systems and disrupting the information flow,” as described by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Information warfare touches so many aspects of our society, @HutEighteen seeks to bring together technical and non-technical practitioners. By harnessing diverse talent and aptitude, @HutEighteen aims to uncover new and innovative ways of conducting hybrid or information warfare.
As a community of interest, @HutEighteen will bring together practitioners, policy makers, and thinkers within the Ministry of Defence, as well as other government departments, academia, industry and the international community. Its mission is to connect, inform, support, collaborate and exploit cyber, information advantage and information outreach through education, events, and experimentation.
Colonel Caroline Woodbridge-Lewin, Head of the Information Warfare Group at the Defence Academy said:
Big data, autonomy, machine learning, social sciences, social media and global connectivity all play an increasingly important role in our lives. And if used against us, form the basis of information warfare.
How well we perform in information warfare is less likely to be related to our specific equipment, but more towards attitude, approach and collaboration. This is exactly what @HutEighteen strives to build: the network and the relationships of those working in the diverse field to counter these disruptive techniques.
Major General Andrew Roe, Chief Executive of the Defence Academy and Commandant Joint Services Command and Staff College said:
Information Warfare is a fast-moving discipline, requiring a constantly innovative and agile approach. In order to continue to outperform our adversaries, professional military education must include the study of information warfare concepts and techniques. By innovating and collaborating across sectors and institutions, @HutEighteen has the potential to drive forward our capabilities in information warfare.
To find out more or to get involved, please contact informationwarfarenetwork@da.mod.uk or comms@da.mod.uk, or on Defence Connect for those in the Ministry of Defence.
