C. L. Staten's comments on asymmetric warfare borrow from Sun-Tzu's observations in The Art of Warfare . In the business arena, unscrupulous and immoral competitors may use the Internet as a vector for manipulations of the corporate psyche. These attacks manifest in many forms. Masquerading as operating in the public interest gives the site legitimacy. Its real aim, though, is disseminating poison to create internal friction.
Email becomes another useful tool to generate internal discord.
An attacker fakes a message from the company's investment banker to the VP of Human Resources. The message alludes to upcoming major layoffs. While some security consultants may recommend digital signatures as a countermeasure to this danger, Bruce Schneier, in Secrets and Lies , observes that copying and posting digital signatures into documents and emails requires no great learning or expertise. In fact a digital signature, albeit stolen, may only increase the forgery's validity. Another scam is posting a paper announcement on the company's bulletin board in the break room, cafeteria, lounge, or on its intranet.