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Deception in Information Operations aims to create a false mental model in the adversary by misrepresenting capabilities or intentions. The goal is to lead the other side to believe something that isn’t true about what you can do or what you plan to do, often through covert signals, decoys, or misleading indicators that distort their situational picture.

Influence, in contrast, is about shaping what people think and how they act through messaging and framing. It seeks to guide beliefs and decisions by presenting information in a credible, persuasive way, and while it can use truthful information or truthful partial truths, the objective is to steer attitudes or behavior rather than to induce a false belief about reality.

So the best description separates misperception-inducing tactics (deception) from persuasion-based messaging (influence), with deception focused on tricking the adversary about reality and influence focused on guiding decisions through communication. The other statements don’t capture that distinction: legality is not the defining difference, and deception is not simply about cybersecurity, nor are the two concepts identical.