An attacker wants to disrupt his adversaries support operations, so that their forces do not get the spares, fuel or ammunition that they need. While such goals of information warfare have remained constant, the tools of IW have changed beyond recognition. Information exchanged over computer networks is now as vital to almost every aspect of military operations as it is to business. From mission plans to targeting and threat data, the military relies on information to such a degree that the loss of data integrity would be disastrous. The traditional approach to defensive IW has been security.
Locked doors protect the computers that access a classified network.
Firewalls, passwords and cards protect the data in the computers. And the data itself may be routed along separate lines. The military's need for information is outrunning the capacity of its private networks. Unique hardware is too expensive to cover all of the Pentagon's needs. Coalition warfare links U.S. military networks to portals that it does not own.