The response must be 200 words and use at least 2 scholarly citation(s) in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include texts, articles, presentations, the Bible, blogs, videos, etc.

Textbook:

Johnson, T. A. (2015). Cybersecurity: Protecting critical infrastructures from cyber attack and cyber warfare.Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN: 9781482239225.

Pichtel, J. (2016). Terrorism and WMDs (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN: 9781498738989.

***MELISSA***

There are many different aspects of cybersecurity, intelligence, counterintelligence, and information warfare. There are many things that affect them all to include legal aspects of each. One of the simplest ways to describe information warfare is the gathering of information through cyber attacks and to use that information against specific targets. Johnson, 2015, gave an example of this situation, he pointed out that coalition forces attacked Iraqi information systems through electronic and physical weapons.

One of the ways to combat information warfare is through cyber intelligence and counterintelligence. Counterintelligence is a combination of law enforcement and security protection mixed with foreign intelligence and the combatting of terrorism (Melendez, 2019). When it comes to information warfare in this day and age counterintelligence is going to be an important role in ensuring that the information sources in the United States are protected. In the previous week we learned about protecting critical infrastructure. This is accomplished through counterintelligence and intelligence sharing. September 11, 2001 was a defining moment in US history as it pertained to security. The tragedy of the attacks that day led to the development of new divisions of government to help protect intelligence. One of these organizations was the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

For intelligence protection to work there needs to be a sharing of information among the different organizations in the US that are set up to ensure safety and security. If there is not a sharing of information, then there could openings for cyber threats and other security threats to occur. With the formation of new agencies to provide security against new threats there could be legal issues that arise. The US Patriot Act was designed to provide guidance under a new age of security threats. It was a quick acting piece of legislation that has not been without flaws, but still provides legal guidance for the protection of the United States (Welch, 2015).

One of the things that came out of the US Patriot Act was delaying of notice of search and seizure of property that was deemed criminal evidence of potential terrorist attacks (Welch, 2015). While this can be good in regard to protecting information that is being gathered to protect us it has also become a gray area with law enforcement agencies. Some people feel that law enforcement has used this to their advantage without regard to the privacy of others. One of the constitutional rights that Americans have is the right to have privacy and security in their homes against search and seizure. The Patriot Act has made that a gray area. Terrorism is not clearly defined and as it is not clearly defined one could interpret terrorism to mean any threat to the peace and safety of others (Rajah, 2019). If law enforcement entities feel that gathering information is necessary to protect the peace and safety of others it should not be held against them if they can prove that the information is necessary.