Deceptive Intelligence
All communication has an element of deception. Code theory of communication proposed that as long as the transmission is clear, and the code used to interpret the transmission is correct, then there is no discrepancy between the message sent and the interpreted message. Communication between humans relies on context and relevance and does not ensure true communication when transmitted by the sender, or that the right context is used to interpret the message by the receiver. Communication depends on both parties to share a frame of reference, to interpret tone, intonation and idiosyncratic expressions in the same manner, from among a multitude of possible interpretations and to remember the same concepts in the identical way.
Deliberate deception in intelligence and military actions is executed to mislead adversary decision makers as to capabilities, intentions and operations and to cause the adversary to take specific actions (or inactions) that will contribute to the accomplishment of a mission. The US Army-handbook "The Law of Land Warfare" names the deceiving by wrong orders, the use of enemy codes, slogans and signals as well as targeted wrong instruction and propaganda. Professional agency deception work is rooted in psychological operations where selected information and indicators is conveyed to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. Psychological operations, a non-lethal weapons system also called PSYOP (Joint Pub 1-02) induce or reinforce targets with attitudes and behavior favorable to the objectives. The topics or ideas on which a psychological operation is based are called psychological themes. Once it is known what motivates the target psychological operations can begin.