Who is Responsible for Defending United States Interests in Cyberspace?

Abstract

As a nation, the United States of America created the Internet, embraced it, and opened up the potential to link people around the globe, crossing international and cultural boundaries. Americans leveraged the new capability to such a great extent that it has been woven into the fabric of our society, which also provides an avenue for our adversaries to exploit. With such grave concern over potential attacks within the complex cyber environment, which department is responsible to protect United States interests? Presidential Directives have designated the Department of Homeland Security as a government lead while the Department of Defense also has a key role in cyber. In reviewing authorities of each organization and within the context of other contributors to the protection of U.S. interests there is minimal overlap between the two organizations. Current laws limit the potential defense while also not clearly designating roles and responsibilities, while the threat continues to increase.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA588567

Entities

People

  • Thomas A. Boone

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Rights
  • Computer Network Security
  • Computer Networks
  • Congress
  • Cyber Threats
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Homeland Security
  • Information Systems
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.

Technology Areas

  • Cyber