Many Hands in the Cookie Jar: Case Studies in Response Options to Cyber Incidents Affecting U.S. Government Networks and Implications for Future Response

Abstract

The focus of this report is on significant cyber incidents affecting U.S. government systems and networks. It seeks to address the following questions: What responses has the United States considered in the past to cyber compromises of U.S. government systems? Has the United States been able to materially affect adversary behavior through past responses? How should the United States respond to similar incidents in the future? Should the United States expect those responses to achieve its objectives in the future in light of prior responses? Employing a qualitative approach encompassing a thorough literature review of publicly available sources and a limited set of interviews with former government officials involved in responding to prior incidents, we examine three cases of Russian cyber-enabled espionage and two cases of Chinese cyber-enabled espionage dating back to the Moonlight Maze compromise of multiple government agencies in the late 1990s up to the 2015 compromise of the Office of Personnel Management.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2022
Accession Number
AD1167692

Entities

People

  • Jonathan Balk
  • Quentin E. Hodgson
  • Yuliya Shokh

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Networks
  • Cyber Threats
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Relations
  • Information Systems
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Intelligence Community (United States)
  • International Law
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Network Protocols
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Policy
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Cyber
  • Cyber - Legality in Cyberspace