Social Engineering in Non-Linear Warfare

Abstract

This paper explores the use of hacking, leaking, and trolling by Russia to influence the 2016 United States Presidential Elections. These tactics have been called “the weapons of the geek” by some researchers. By using proxy hackers and Russian malware to break into the email of the Democratic National Committee and then giving that email to Wikileaks to publish on the Internet, the Russian government attempted to swing the election in the favor of their preferred candidate. The source of the malware used in the DNC hack was determined to be of Russian in nature and has been used on the battlefield in Ukraine, giving the Russians a strategic edge and resulting in heavy loses. Information Warfare and Cyber Warfare of this type is also known as Non-Linear Warfare. Such tactics will continue to be adapted by more adversaries in the future since it has been proven to be successful in both the manipulation of events and effective on the battlefield with very little investment in time or material