Introduction
This paper is written in the context of Information Warfare being a serious and direct threat to our nation's security. The National Security Council defines such threats as ones that endanger our national goals and objectives. In general, these include threats to the lives of American citizens and residents, threats to our economy, and threats to our ability to promulgate freedom, liberty, and the rule of law to the world. It is in our national interest to stop a terrorist organization from bombing the World Trade Center. It is equally important to our national interest to prevent Information Warriors from shutting down or threatening our essential financial, health, or quality of life infrastructures.
Winn Schartau, as well as many others, has made the point that Information War threatens our national security every bit as much as conventional war [14]. We will not restate those arguments here but proceed with the assumption that they are true. This paper then, represents a thought experiment on a grand scale.
Conclusion
So far we have fought information warfare defensively. We wait for an attack, recover, and take steps to prevent similar types of attacks. All the while the attacker is able to create new attack methodologies. Our resources are drained in this ever-increasing need to defend against known methods. It is imperative to take the offensive; not necessarily to become the aggressor in cyber-space, but when engaged to fight to win.
