Download or read book Cyber Attacks Attribution and Deterrence written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-02-18 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this monograph is to examine the role of a defender's ability to attribute a cyber attack and its effect on deterrence. Conflict in cyberspace is constantly evolving and deterrence might provide stability and understanding of these conflicts. Because of the speed at which cyber attacks can occur and the rate at which they can spread, it is important to understand how countries using cyber weapons frame the problem. The method used in this paper is controlled comparison of three different cyber attacks: the 2007 attacks on Estonia, the Stuxnet attack on Iran, and the LulzSec attacks multiple targets in 2011. These three events bore the similarity that defenders could not immediately attribute the attack to an actor. This attribution problem influenced how the defenders responded to the problem. Upon further research, however, it became apparent that attribution was not the defenders' biggest problem in two of the three cases. Attribution may not always be immediately available through technical means, but eventually defenders had enough information on which to act. At this point, other problems arose, like escalating a cyber conflict with a far more powerful neighbor or determining how to respond without a cyber capability of one's own. These cases demonstrate attribution is a necessary but not sufficient cause for responding to a cyber attack and that defenders have many response options available, from technical defense of their networks to escalation of the conflict to kinetic military strikes. Additionally, cyber deterrence does not require the high levels of attribution that some theorists argue. Instead, a counterattack can rely on a lower level of attribution because the target is typically a known adversary and because the results from a cyber attack are generally much lower than the effects from a kinetic attack. Thus, because of the need for a state to respond to cyber attacks in kind and the lower attribution requirements, an offensive cyber capability is both necessary and useful.

Download or read book The Cyber Deterrence Problem written by Aaron F. Brantly and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The national security of the United States depends on a secure, reliable and resilient cyberspace. The inclusion of digital systems into every aspect of US national security has been underway since World War II and has increased with the proliferation of Internet-enabled devices. There is an increasing need to develop a robust deterrence framework within which the United States and its allies can dissuade would-be adversaries from engaging in various cyber activities. Yet despite a desire to deter adversaries, the problems associated with dissuasion remain complex, multifaceted, poorly understood and imprecisely specified. Challenges, including credibility, attribution, escalation and conflict management, remain ever-present and challenge the United States in its efforts to foster security in cyberspace. These challenges need to be addressed in a deliberate and multidisciplinary approach that combines political and technical realities to provide a robust set of policy options to decision makers. The Cyber Deterrence Problem brings together a multidisciplinary team of scholars with expertise in computer science, deterrence theory, cognitive psychology, intelligence studies and conflict management to analyze and develop a robust assessment of the necessary requirements and attributes for achieving deterrence in cyberspace. Beyond simply addressing the base challenges associated with deterrence, many of the chapters also propose strategies and tactics to enhance deterrence in cyberspace and emphasize conceptualizing how the United States deters adversaries.

Download or read book Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring Cyberattacks written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-10-30 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a world of increasing dependence on information technology, the prevention of cyberattacks on a nation's important computer and communications systems and networks is a problem that looms large. Given the demonstrated limitations of passive cybersecurity defense measures, it is natural to consider the possibility that deterrence might play a useful role in preventing cyberattacks against the United States and its vital interests. At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Research Council undertook a two-phase project aimed to foster a broad, multidisciplinary examination of strategies for deterring cyberattacks on the United States and of the possible utility of these strategies for the U.S. government. The first phase produced a letter report providing basic information needed to understand the nature of the problem and to articulate important questions that can drive research regarding ways of more effectively preventing, discouraging, and inhibiting hostile activity against important U.S. information systems and networks. The second phase of the project entailed selecting appropriate experts to write papers on questions raised in the letter report. A number of experts, identified by the committee, were commissioned to write these papers under contract with the National Academy of Sciences. Commissioned papers were discussed at a public workshop held June 10-11, 2010, in Washington, D.C., and authors revised their papers after the workshop. Although the authors were selected and the papers reviewed and discussed by the committee, the individually authored papers do not reflect consensus views of the committee, and the reader should view these papers as offering points of departure that can stimulate further work on the topics discussed. The papers presented in this volume are published essentially as received from the authors, with some proofreading corrections made as limited time allowed.

Download or read book Cyberpower and National Security written by Franklin D. Kramer and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2009 with total page 666 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book creates a framework for understanding and using cyberpower in support of national security. Cyberspace and cyberpower are now critical elements of international security. United States needs a national policy which employs cyberpower to support its national security interests.

Download or read book Cyberdeterrence and the Problem of Attribution written by Ryan Richard Gelinas and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyber attacks are difficult to attribute. As a result, they pose specific problems for a potential cyber-deterrence doctrine. This paper examines five cases of cyber attacks to illustrate the problems of attribution, which informs a discussion of the feasibility of a classical deterrence framework in attempting to deter cyber attacks.

Download or read book Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar written by Martin C. Libicki and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2009-09-22 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyberspace, where information--and hence serious value--is stored and manipulated, is a tempting target. An attacker could be a person, group, or state and may disrupt or corrupt the systems from which cyberspace is built. When states are involved, it is tempting to compare fights to warfare, but there are important differences. The author addresses these differences and ways the United States protect itself in the face of attack.

Download or read book Strategic Cyber Deterrence written by Scott Jasper and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-07-08 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the FBI, about 4000 ransomware attacks happen every day. In the United States alone, victims lost $209 million to ransomware in the first quarter of 2016. Even worse is the threat to critical infrastructure, as seen by the malware infections at electrical distribution companies in Ukraine that caused outages to 225,000 customers in late 2015. Further, recent reports on the Russian hacks into the Democratic National Committee and subsequent release of emails in a coercive campaign to apparently influence the U.S. Presidential Election have brought national attention to the inadequacy of cyber deterrence. The U.S. government seems incapable of creating an adequate strategy to alter the behavior of the wide variety of malicious actors seeking to inflict harm or damage through cyberspace. This book offers a systematic analysis of the various existing strategic cyber deterrence options and introduces the alternative strategy of active cyber defense. It examines the array of malicious actors operating in the domain, their methods of attack, and their motivations. It also provides answers on what is being done, and what could be done, by the government and industry to convince malicious actors that their attacks will not succeed and that risk of repercussions exists. Traditional deterrence strategies of retaliation, denial and entanglement appear to lack the necessary conditions of capability, credibly, and communications due to these malicious actors’ advantages in cyberspace. In response, the book offers the option of adopting a strategy of active cyber defense that combines internal systemic resilience to halt cyber attack progress with external disruption capacities to thwart malicious actors’ objectives. It shows how active cyber defense is technically capable and legally viable as an alternative strategy for the deterrence of cyber attacks.

Download or read book Flexible Options for Cyber Deterrence Terrorism Problem of Attribution Cyber Attack Espionage Defense Nation State Peer Competitors China Conflict SCADA Network Equipment written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This paper describes options for cyber deterrence to address both asymmetric threats from terrorists and the intimidation associated with nation-state peer competitors in the cyber domain. It presents recent National Security Strategy interests and demonstrates a lack of focus upon cyber infrastructure. The paper will examine challenges associated with legal aspects in the cyber domain as well as the issue of attribution. It will analyze terrorist and nation-state usage of cyberspace and potential threats aimed at the United States related to each. Finally, the paper concludes with several recommendations for tailored cyber deterrence focused on terrorists and peer nation-states. The idea of deterrence has existed since the beginning of humanity. Lawrence Freedman in his book Deterrence uses the biblical tale of Adam, Eve, and the forbidden fruit as an example of deterrence. Webster defines deterrence as "maintenance of military power for the purpose of discouraging attack." The threat of war has always been a tool used by leaders to influence foreign powers to avoid acts of aggression. Ultimately, deterrence became synonymous with American Cold War strategic thinking and foreign policy. Mutually assured destruction was a classic adoption of deterrence through punishment. However, deterrence through punishment requires the demonstration of offensive capabilities. The highly classified nature of the United States cyber-based offensive tools makes this approach unlikely. In addition, deterrence by punishment does not work without identification and attribution. Lastly, any assumption of rationality demonstrates the fallacy of Cold War deterrence applied to the cyber domain. Today's multi-polar world provides multiple threats aimed at the United States in the cyber domain. From cyber terrorists to sophisticated nation-states, adversaries are increasing their cyber capabilities on a daily basis. Some argue for an offensive cyber doctrine of preemption, but as demonstrated in Iraq, preemption can be destabilizing. Acts of war may justify an offensive response, but conventional or nuclear deterrence is more appropriate when attempting to deter aggression defined by war. Complicating cyberspace deterrence is the lack of attribution, no traditional constraints associated with rational behavior of extremists, and a deficient United States cyber national strategy. The next chapter of this paper reviews recent United States strategies and critical cyber infrastructure, attribution in the cyber domain, and cyber espionage. Chapter three provides analysis of cyber terrorism and nation-state operations in the cyber domain. Chapter four describes cyber deterrence recommendations aimed at countering terrorists as well as United States peer competitors. The final chapter presents conclusions. Contents * Biography * Introduction * Background * National Security Strategy and Critical Infrastructure * The Problem of Attribution * Privacy and Attribution * Espionage versus Cyber-attack * Analysis * Cyber Terrorism: Does it Exist? * Terrorist Tactics and the Internet * Nation State Peer Competitors * Recommendations * Cyber Deterrence of Terrorism * Peer Competitors and Cyber Deterrence * Diplomatic and Economic Engagement as a Cyber Deterrent Option * Cyber Defense, More than Passwords * Conclusion * Bibliography

Download or read book The Fallacy of Attribution to Achieve Deterrence in Cyberspace written by Robert J. Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The ability to determine the responsible party of a military attack and convince a would-be attacker that one has the ability to determine this culpability constitutes a key capability for nations wishing to deter aggression. However, within domain of cyberspace, a belligerent state, non-state and/or criminal actor can manipulate elements of the domain to shroud and/or maliciously redirect culpability elsewhere. In such an environment, is the basic premise of deterrence (threat of retaliation or denial of benefits to the attacker) still viable? This research paper will look at the problem of attribution from both a technical and national policy standpoint. Specifically, the research will briefly describe the technical problems challenging attribution and review some of the proposed solutions. Further, the research will examine the problem of attribution from a national policy standpoint to outline the potential policy solutions that could provide alternate solutions outside or in addition to the purely technical ones as well as highlight consequences of some of the proposed solutions. This paper argues that a central focus on attack attribution to enable a retaliatory response as a means to accomplish deterrence presents an untenable, unsustainable strategy. Cyberspace, unlike other domains of air, space, land and sea, provide the ability to recreate the domain at will to complicate an attacker's ability to penetrate. This paper argues that old ideas of centralization and hardening for defense should give way to ideas of randomly moving cyber attack surfaces (logically defined vice physically defined) in order to rebalance the current asymmetry between attacker and defender. Transformative security in cyberspace can only take place when industrial age ideas are supplanted by modern information age ideas that exploit the strengths of the malleable cyber domain to ensure security"--Introduction.

Download or read book Deterring Cyberattacks on U S Critical Infrastructure Case Studies of Iran and Stuxnet Bowman Avenue Dam Attack Attribution and Retaliation Implications for U S Policy Protecting Vital Services written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-24 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure are not merely theoretical. Nations and private enterprises have come to understand that critical infrastructure can be attacked via cyberspace with serious repercussions. Critical infrastructure is vital to the United States because it provides power, water, transportation, and communication services to the American public. Those services are essential to U.S. security, economy, and health. Many documents, some dating back to the Cold War era, examine deterrence strategies to defend critical infrastructure against physical attacks, but literature regarding deterrence against cyberattacks on critical infrastructure is minimal. Deterrence is most important when defense is difficult, and defending critical infrastructure in cyber space is significantly difficult. Unlike conventional attacks, cyberattacks are fast and inexpensive, with ambiguous sources of origin. That is why a serious study deterring cyberattacks against critical infrastructure is necessary. Although the U.S. government is aware of the dangers posed by cyberattacks against its critical infrastructure, it does not have a well-developed strategy for deterring them. This thesis analyzes current U.S. cyber deterrence strategies and explores the feasibility of deterring cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. I. INTRODUCTION * A. RESEARCH QUESTION * B. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION AND SIGNIFICANCE * C. LITERATURE REVIEW * 1. Protecting Critical Infrastructure * 2. Cyber Deterrence * D. METHODOLOGY * E. THESIS OVERVIEW * II. CYBERATTACKS ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE * A. INTRODUCTION * B. STUXNET * 1. Iran's Deterrence Policy * 2. Did Deterrence Fail or Succeed? * 3. Attribution * 4. Retaliation * C. BOWMAN AVENUE DAM * 1. U.S. Deterrence Policy * 2. Did Deterrence Fail or Succeed? * 3. Attribution * 4. Retaliation * D. SUMMARY * III. CONCLUSION * A. LESSONS LEARNED * 1. Deterrence Policy and Deterrence Failure * 2. Attribution * 3. Retaliation * B. IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. POLICY * C. CAN THE UNITED STATES DETER CYBERATTACKS ON ITS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE? * D. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Download or read book Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar written by Martin C. Libicki and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2009 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The protection of cyberspace, the information medium, has become a vital national interest because of its importance both to the economy and to military power. An attacker may tamper with networks to steal information for the money or to disrupt operations. Future wars are likely to be carried out, in part or perhaps entirely, in cyberspace. It might therefore seem obvious that maneuvering in cyberspace is like maneuvering in other media, but nothing would be more misleading. Cyberspace has its own laws; for instance, it is easy to hide identities and difficult to predict or even understand battle damage, and attacks deplete themselves quickly. Cyberwar is nothing so much as the manipulation of ambiguity. The author explores these in detail and uses the results to address such issues as the pros and cons of counterattack, the value of deterrence and vigilance, and other actions the United States and the U.S. Air Force can take to protect itself in the face of deliberate cyberattack. --Publisher description.

Download or read book Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare written by Michael N. Schmitt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The result of a three-year project, this manual addresses the entire spectrum of international legal issues raised by cyber warfare.

Download or read book Strategic Cyber Security written by Kenneth Geers and published by Kenneth Geers. This book was released on 2011 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Strategies for Resolving the Cyber Attribution Challenge written by Panayotis A. Yannakogeorgos and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-20 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technical challenges are not a great hindrance to global cyber security cooperation; rather, a nation's lack of cybersecurity action plans that combine technology, management procedures, organizational structures, law, and human competencies into national security strategies are. Strengthening international partnerships to secure the cyber domain will require understanding the technical, legal, and defense challenges faced by our international partners. Identifying the gaps in international cooperation and their socioeconomic and political bases will provide the knowledge required to support our partners' cybersecurity and contribute to building a cyber environment less hospitable to misuse. It will also help US policy makers to determine the appropriate escalation of diplomatic and defensive responses to irresponsible countries in cyberspace. Further research and discussion will likely enable the timely development of the response framework for US sponsorship of sound global norms to guide global cybersecurity. This will also assist the US defense, diplomatic, and development communities in building consensus, leveraging resources to enhance global cybersecurity, and coordinating US global outreach to those countries most beset by cyber crime and conflict.

Download or read book Deterrence in Cyberspace written by Matthew Rivera and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There are significant differences between nuclear attack and cyber-attack, but the development of cyber deterrence policy is relevant to the total defense of the United States' critical infrastructure and networked cyber systems. The rapidity, ambiguity of origination, and inexpensiveness of a cyber-attack creates a different problem not easily addressed by the strategies used in the implementation of nuclear deterrence. Similar to the nuclear deterrence policy developed during the Cold War, a policy for deterrence to compliment the United States' defense of its interests in cyberspace from nefarious acts is needed today. Influencing the mental calculus of a potential adversary to dissuade them from conduct that threatens the United States is a critical aspect of defending the nation's interests in cyberspace. Having the capabilities in cyberspace to effectively respond to enemy aggression is critical to deterrence as a strategy to defend the nation's critical infrastructure. The cyber-attacks conducted against Georgia and Estonia during their conflicts with Russia demonstrates the ability for widespread effects at very little cost. While the private sector must do more to ensure critical infrastructures are adequately protected, the government similarly needs to better develop policies and associated consequences to deter cyber-attacks. The aspects of nuclear deterrence considered relevant to cyber deterrence in this paper are attribution, penalty, credibility, definition of attack, dependency, counter-productivity, awareness, and futility."--Abstract

Download or read book NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2020 written by Frans Osinga and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-12-03 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access volume surveys the state of the field to examine whether a fifth wave of deterrence theory is emerging. Bringing together insights from world-leading experts from three continents, the volume identifies the most pressing strategic challenges, frames theoretical concepts, and describes new strategies. The use and utility of deterrence in today’s strategic environment is a topic of paramount concern to scholars, strategists and policymakers. Ours is a period of considerable strategic turbulence, which in recent years has featured a renewed emphasis on nuclear weapons used in defence postures across different theatres; a dramatic growth in the scale of military cyber capabilities and the frequency with which these are used; and rapid technological progress including the proliferation of long-range strike and unmanned systems. These military-strategic developments occur in a polarized international system, where cooperation between leading powers on arms control regimes is breaking down, states widely make use of hybrid conflict strategies, and the number of internationalized intrastate proxy conflicts has quintupled over the past two decades. Contemporary conflict actors exploit a wider gamut of coercive instruments, which they apply across a wider range of domains. The prevalence of multi-domain coercion across but also beyond traditional dimensions of armed conflict raises an important question: what does effective deterrence look like in the 21st century? Answering that question requires a re-appraisal of key theoretical concepts and dominant strategies of Western and non-Western actors in order to assess how they hold up in today’s world. Air Commodore Professor Dr. Frans Osinga is the Chair of the War Studies Department of the Netherlands Defence Academy and the Special Chair in War Studies at the University Leiden. Dr. Tim Sweijs is the Director of Research at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy in Breda.

Download or read book Tallinn Manual 2 0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations written by Michael N. Schmitt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-02 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tallinn Manual 2.0 expands on the highly influential first edition by extending its coverage of the international law governing cyber operations to peacetime legal regimes. The product of a three-year follow-on project by a new group of twenty renowned international law experts, it addresses such topics as sovereignty, state responsibility, human rights, and the law of air, space, and the sea. Tallinn Manual 2.0 identifies 154 'black letter' rules governing cyber operations and provides extensive commentary on each rule. Although Tallinn Manual 2.0 represents the views of the experts in their personal capacity, the project benefitted from the unofficial input of many states and over fifty peer reviewers.