Terrorist Approach to Information Operations

This thesis provides insight into how terrorist organizations exploit the information environment to achieve their objectives. The study establishes an analytical 10 framework, by integrating US military doctrine with a fundamental approach to 10 theory. The framework proves useful in examining the 10 tools terrorists have assembled and how they implement them to influence their target audiences. The thesis shows that terrorists are, indeed, naturally linked to the information environment by their nature and strategy. Generally speaking, all terrorists employ 10 tactically to enhance their operations. However, many organizations have a profound understanding of the information environment and also have the ability to manipulate information to achieve their objectives. Since terrorist organizations are militarily weaker than the states they face and cannot rely on physical attacks to accomplish their goals, they must adopt an information strategy to achieve their objectives. This thesis emphasizes three primary conclusions: first terrorist conduct violent attacks in the physical environment to enable operations in the information environment. Second, terrorist integrate offensive and defensive 10 to survive and appear legitimate to potential supporters and to the state. Finally, terrorists intentionally target four different audiences: opposing, uncommitted, sympathetic, and active to psychologically influence their perceptions.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Terrorist Approach to Information Operations', published 2003 under ISBN 9781423501503 and ISBN 1423501500.