Abstract
This paper presents a conceptualization of information warfare (IW) for information systems (IS) research, positioning it as a sociotechnical construct that integrates cognitive and psychological, cyber and technical, economic and infrastructure, and other deception operations. Drawing on a hermeneutic literature review, we clarify the relation to adjacent warfare types and identify four categories of operations central to its practice. While many of these operations have already been studied in IS, they are rarely framed explicitly as IW. This limits our theoretical integration and practical relevance. We propose that recognizing IW as a systemic use of its inherent operations opens new avenues for IS research to address strategic manipulation, societal resilience, and cross-sector governance.
Recommended Citation
Jechle, Deinera; Frenzel-Piasentin, Adeline; Risius, Marten; and Gewald, Heiko, "Conceptualizing Information Warfare in the Digital Age:
Implications for the IS Discipline" (2025). ACIS 2025 Proceedings. 59.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2025/59