A Cyber Pearl Harbor?

Abstract

An alarmist school of thought that views cyber as a revolutionary innovation changing the nature of war is driving today's public narrative with claims that the United States is losing a cyber war or that a cyber Pearl Harbor is looming. Without critical analysis or debate and lacking a common lexicon for understanding the threats emanating from cyber, there is a danger for escalation to armed conflict or strategic investment in areas that do too little to mitigate the true threat faced by the United States. A more pragmatic school of thought views cyber as an evolution in technology guided by historical international relations, norms, and strategic logic; and is forming a framework for keys concepts that stand to better inform US policy and strategy in cyber. In proposing a more strategically logical framework upon which to evaluate cyber threats, this paper suggests the United States' focus must be primarily on cyber security.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 03, 2017
Accession Number
AD1042007

Entities

People

  • Kevin R. Bray

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Cyber Warfare
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cyberspace
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Department Of Defense
  • Foreign Policy
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Cyber
  • Cyber - Legality in Cyberspace