The mere mention of the theoretical concept and operational practice of Information Warfare creates a certain level of trepidation, and perhaps even fear in an audience. This is often owed to it being a little-understood source of risk and threat to individuals and groups, and an often overly exaggerated perceived sense of what dastardly and subversive goals can be “magically” achieved through its use. Information Warfare is a higher-order tool of manipulative communications technology. It combines several lower-order communications tools to achieve its organizational objectives. Thus, there are two aspects to defining and understanding Information Warfare: its academic definition and conceptualization, as well as its pragmatic implementation and effects. Both the conceptual definition and the practice of Information Warfare undergo a continual evolution owing to the adaptation of its use in the physical realm. These perspectives revolve around the desire to create a more effective Information Warfare weapon on the one hand and on the other hand to enable a better defense against its use. Perhaps contrary to popular belief, Information Warfare can be used defensively as well as in an offensive capacity. Whether or not Information Warfare is used is related to variables pertaining to motivation, opportunity, capabilities, and capacity of a would-be user based upon risk–benefit calculation on the intended victim. It must be kept in mind that although these calculations may contain a certain logic in its formulation, the logic may in fact be false or untrue, and hence a miscalculation with unpredictable consequences can unfold.