The evolution of the concept of information warfare in the modern information society of the post-truth era

Objectives Compare selected concepts of information warfare and show the evolution of the Western concept of WI,resulting from the development of the information society, social-media and the resources by which information warfare is conducted. Methods The research method used is a systematic review of Western political science literature, as well as military literature, publications on international relations, international politics, security and cyber security from the perspective of information warfare. Techniques such as analysis of background material, causal analysis and scientific and self-observation in this area were used, taking into account the dynamics of technological and geopolitical changes occurring in the modern information society. Results The analysis made it possible to show the evolution of the Western concept of information warfare and outline the main differences from the concept of information warfare adopted by the Russian Federation. The study also points out the threats to the information society posed by the realities of modern information warfare. Conclusions The Western conception of WI differs from that of the Russian Federation, placing the emphasis on WI as technological warfare, while the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China (PRC) place the emphasis on psychological warfare first. This discrepancy could pose a significant threat to the information environment of Western democracies, since the weakest link in the security of not only an information system, but also an information system, is the human being. This is well known not only to hackers, cyber criminals, but also to hostile state or non-state forces that conduct WI against Western countries.