Dr Forbidden invited Tribune Justin of the Dino Army to speak to DDS officers (via a video link) on the subject of Bolitic info-warfare last night. The Dinos have a lot more experience in dealing with Bolitic warfare of this kind and it is hoped they can assist the DDS in developing a defence for this kind of warfare.
Justin first of all explained why info-warfare is so highly developed in the Bolitic armed forces which has the stereotypical image of being super macho and masculine. "If you are strong and Bolitic you go into the army and fight with a sword and gun, if you are weak yet intelligent and Bolitic you go into the army and fight with a keyboard. Like all branches of Bolitic society there is honour to be found in any duty as long as you do your best."
Justin then went on to explain various aspects of the Bolitic info-warfare effort, each House has a dedicated team working on this kind of warfare and the Emperor has a central group of the best hackers and specialists. "They feed into the Bolitic war machine at every level, your recent medical record hacking was a typical Bolitic tactic. In any future combat between the Bolitic and DDS they will use this medical knowledge as part of their strategy. For example if ship X on the left flank has a first officer with a history of nervous illness they may decide to strike that flank."
Blackmail and distraction may also be used, Justin said. "The Bolitic have probably built a huge library of pornographic images." he told the DDS audience who suddenly sat up in their seats, "These will be used to distract individual officers, maybe keeping them up awake for longer so they will not be as alert and fresh. Child porn may be used to discredit people."
Justin went on to explain a case during a war between the Bolitic and Dinos some years ago where a junior planner at the Dino Army HQ had child porn put on his computer by the Bolitic so he would not be on duty during the attack. "It had a small effect as his replacement was not as good." Justin said.
That was the point, Justin concluded. "The Bolitic will use many simultaneous cyber attacks ranging from hacking of systems, to blackmail to disruption. Each on it's own only has a small effect but together it can have a serious draining effect on your ability to combat the "hard" Bolitic armed forces."
