Digital Acts of War: Evolving the Cybersecurity Conversation

PURPOSE:

• To examine the strategies and policies of the administration’s response to cybersecurity incidents.
• To review the growing market for threat intelligence, the pros/cons of making attribution after cybersecurity incidents, and the benefits of clarifying international norms of cyber operations.

BACKGROUND:

• Data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management and at private sector companies have validated a 2013 National Intelligence Estimate that the U.S. is “the target of a massive, sustained cyberespionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness.”
• Hostile actors remain undeterred from conducting cyberattacks because of the relatively low costs of entry, the perceived payoff, and the lack of significant consequences.
• Russia and China continue to view offensive cyber capabilities as an important geostrategic tool and will almost certainly continue developing them.