Review: 2017 Strategic Trends in the Global Cyber Conflict

The Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief aims at raising the reader’s awareness on these issues, by monthly analysing the main international events in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. Keywords: Cyber Warfare, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Elections, Electronic Voting Systems, Espionage, Influence Activities, Information Warfare, International Law, Offensive Cyberspace Operations, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Propaganda, Russia, United Nations, United States.

2009

Information has always been a key element of national power and influence. However, now enabled by modern digital technologies, worldwide communications and information networks have fundamentally reshaped patterns of international trade, finance, and global intercourse, affecting not only economic but also political and social relationships as well. Under these circumstances, few countries, even those with authoritarian systems, can or choose to retain the closed autarchic economies as they did in the past because of economic and financial interdependencies. Moreover, new actors, many of them entities other than states, now play important roles in the international system and interact in novel ways. As a consequence, these forces have helped to refashion international relations after the collapse of the bipolar structure and in the wake of the Cold War. Because they possess particular strengths and weaknesses, we now clearly recognize that modern digital information systems (what are commonly called "cyber systems") are powerful tools and weapons on the one hand as well as sources of great potential vulnerability on the other, affecting not only our economic and social patterns, but also our national security. Digital information-and the cyber infrastructure that processes and carries it-has its own special characteristics; and these qualities are sufficiently different than those of analogue information that many consider "cyber" to be a distinct medium or domain. Considering both the benefits and vulnerabilities of our cyber dependency, together these factors have created a powerful interest in better securing our information and the cyber infrastructures through which it is processed and transmitted. As part of an overall strategy to protect our information resources and cyber capabilities, applying the lessons and tools of deterrence to the cyber domain merits attention as one important component of a comprehensive security strategy.

The "Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief" aims at raising the political leadership and reader’s awareness on the cyber-security issues, by monthly analysing the main international events, in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. The keywords of this volume are: Active Cyber Defence, China, Cyber Warfare, Deterrence, GCHQ, Israel, NSA, People’s Liberation Army, United Kingdom, Russia, United States, Strategy, U.S. Cyber Command, Ukraine.

The Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief aims at raising the reader’s awareness on these issues, by monthly analysing the main international events in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. Keywords: Cyber Command, Cyber Intelligence, Cyber Warfare, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Italian Joint Command for Cyberspace Operations, Italian Joint C4 Command, Italy, NATO, Strategy, Ukraine, Ukraine National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre.

Informing how economically critical cyberspace is, intellectual theft and cybercrime in 2019 compromised a total value at risk of $US5.2 trillion globally over the next five years. (Accenture) In March 2020, the U.S. government's cyberspace solarium commission began with this sobering remark. "Your entire life-your paycheck, your health care, your electricityincreasingly relies on networks of digital devices that store, process, and analyze data. These networks are vulnerable, if not already compromised." (King) Nearly every industry and sector of numerous countries' economies are vulnerable. The only exemptions from this threat are those that do not have anything valuable or interesting worth stealing. (Alperovitch) As the world increasingly moves towards the digital space with COVID-19 facilitating an increased transition from in-person to online, the question of what rules govern cyberspace and how we address it now constitutes an existential threat. I argue we must come to terms with cyberspace's evolving nature, seen over the last ten years; otherwise, it will further complicate existing problems we see today. Comparing the different eras; Stone age, Bronze age, Iron age, Agricultural age, Industrial age, Information age, Space age, and now Digital age, technology has been a large driver in humanities progress. (Winterfield, 140-141) The domains of war have gone from kinetic to analog to digital and have become entangled with our baseline society infrastructure. In the case of cyberwar, it will likely emerge in tandem with a kinetic war. When cyberwar occurs in a digital space, we naturally look towards analogies in the physical world to make sense of it because we are more comfortable with physical reality than quasi metaphysical cyberspace. (Nations at Cyber War) Therefore, the absence of consistent and overt state practice relating to cyber capabilities poses an even greater challenge to existing ambiguous legal frameworks. (Kilovaty, 2016) The Pentagon states traditional rules of war govern cyberspace. However, it is unclear what this means in practice. Moreover, it does not help that most actors do not suffer economically or politically for being caught. (Economist, April 6th, 2013) The traditional definition of an act of war concerns equivalence in kinetic effect to a military attack. Unlike military kinetic weapons, economic cyber-attacks or ECA's can be just as severe and threatening as the effects of kinetic cyber-attacks or KCA's. (Kilovaty, 2015) Further complicating things, suppose a cyber-attack has the same effect on an electric grid as a missile attack. In that case, it is an act of war authorizing any kinetic weaponry of proportional effect in response. Additionally, NATO affirming that cyberspace is relevant to Article 5 on a case-bycase basis has stark implications. (NATO). Cyberspace got recognized as a "domain of operations in which NATO must defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land, and at sea," with the aim of "maintaining international peace, security, and stability in cyberspace." (Disma) The 2018 Brussels Declaration also introduced the concepts of disinformation campaigns and malicious cyber activities as parts of the hybrid challenge. The hybrid challenge involves "[creating] ambiguity and [blurring] the lines between peace, crisis, and conflict." (Disma) Cyberwarfare today constitutes an unprecedentedly complex hybrid challenge. Intersecting kinetic, KCA's and ECA's blur the lines between state and non-state actors, perpetuating cyber conflict and allow nation-states to hide behind ambiguity when confronted about attacks. (Yannakogeorgos)

The Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief aims at raising the reader’s awareness on these issues, by monthly analysing the main international events in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. Keywords: Cyber Warfare, Rules of Engagement for Cyberspace, FBI, DHS, ODNI, United States.

Science For All Publications, 2023

The rise of technology has revolutionized warfare, giving birth to a new form of conflict known as cyber warfare. This article examines the use of cyber warfare and its profound implications for international security. Cyber warfare encompasses various activities, including cyber espionage, terrorism, and state-sponsored cyber attacks. These tactics pose significant challenges to governments, economies, critical infrastructures, and individuals. Additionally, attributing cyber attacks remains a complex issue, impacting international norms and regulations. Therefore, fostering international cooperation, strengthening defense mechanisms, and establishing comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks to mitigate the risks and ensure global security is crucial.

2021

This companion provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date comparative overview of the cyber-security strategies and doctrines of the major states and actors in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. The volume offers an introduction to each nation's cyber-security strategy and policy, along with a list of resources in English that may be consulted for those wishing to go into greater depth. Each chapter is written by a leading academic or policy specialist, and contains the following sections: This book will be of much interest to students and practitioners in the fields of cybersecurity, national security, strategic studies, foreign policy, and international relations.

The Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief aims at raising the reader’s awareness on these issues, by monthly analysing the main international events in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. Keywords: Active Cyber Defence, Cyber Intelligence, Cyber Warfare, G7, Iran, Japan, Strategy, Supreme Council of Cyberspace, United Nations, United States, U.S. Naval Academy.

The Cyber Strategy & Policy Brief aims at raising the reader’s awareness on these issues, by monthly analysing the main international events in order to highlight the trends of cyber threats and the lessons learned that might be useful to protect national security. Keywords: Cyber Intelligence, Cyber Warfare, Iran, Islamic State, Italy, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Strategy, Terrorism, United States, White House.