Next Generation Information Warfare: Rationales, Scenarios, Threats, and Open Issues

The technological advances made in the last twenty years radically changed our society, improving our lifestyle in almost every aspect of our daily life. This change directly affects human habits, transforming the way people share information and knowledge. The exponential technological advancement, together with the related information deluge, are also radically changing Information Warfare and its scenarios. Indeed, the consequently increase of the digital attack surface poses new challenges and threats for both personal and national security. In this paper we discuss the motivations behind the need to redefine the Information Warfare according to its new dimensions. Then, we analyze the potential impact of the new threats on the most sensitive targets exposed by every nation: the Society, the Economy, and the Critical Infrastructures. Finally, for every considered scenario, we analyze existing state-of-the-art countermeasures, highlighting open issues and suggesting possible new defensive techniques.