Influence Cyber Operations: The use of cyberattacks in support of Influence Operations

Information Warfare and Influence Operations are, in principle, intended to get your own message across or to prevent your adversary from doing so. However, it is not just about developing a coherent and convincing storyline as it also involves confusing, distracting, dividing, and demoralising the adversary. From that perspective, cyberspace seems to be ideal for conducting such operations that will have disruptive, rather than destructive outcomes.The means through which influence can be exerted relies mostly on spreading information. However, there are more intrusive ways to influence specific audiences that remain in the information realm but are designed to change, compromise, inject, destroy, or steal information by accessing information systems and networks. This paper aims to tackle the following questions: when does influencing the behaviour of an audience become the primary effect of a cyber operation, and which cyber operations might qualify as such? We introduce the term Influence Cyber Operations (ICOs) to describe these actions in cyberspace. In order to address these questions, and drawing from existing literature, this paper defines ICOs as a specific subset of Influence Operations. ICOs encompass activities undertaken in cyberspace affecting the logical layer of cyberspace with the intention of influencing attitudes, behaviours, or decisions of target audiences. To illustrate the case for ICOs, we comment on a broad range of techniques that can be used in order to conduct these, and discuss the accompanying policy frameworks.