Defense Chiefs: U.S. Cannot Win Global Cyber Wars
Defense Chiefs: U.S. Cannot Win Global Cyber Wars
"Permanent global cyberspace superiority is not
possible due to the complexity of cyberspace"
By: Adam Kredo June 20, 2018 2:10 pm
The Defense Departments warns in a new organizational
document that the United States cannot win the global battle over cyber
security due the overwhelming complexity of the issue and the rapidly changing
landscape in cyberspace, according to the document.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a new organizational
guidance issued earlier this month, assessed the United States will never be
able to fully achieve dominance in the cyberspace realm, but that officials are
working on a series of plans to boost the country's offensive and defensive
capabilities in this realm.
"Permanent global cyberspace superiority is not
possible due to the complexity of cyberspace," the report states.
"Even local superiority may be impractical due to the way IT is
implemented; the fact U.S. and other national governments do not directly
control large, privately owned portions of cyberspace; the broad array of state
and non-state actors; the low cost of entry; and the rapid and unpredictable
proliferation of technology."
The assessment provides a realistic grounding for the
United States' limited ability to dominate the cyber realm as private hacker
groups and rogue nations seek to exploit critical U.S. government systems and
those of private industry.
Military "commanders should be prepared to conduct
operations under degraded conditions in cyberspace," the report warns,
emphasizing limitations on the military's cyber capabilities.
Difficulty in combatting cyber attacks on the United
States are attributed to the ability of hacker groups and nations to obfuscate
the precise location and nature of attacks, preventing the United States from
striking back.
"The ability to hide the sponsor and/or the threat
behind a particular malicious effect in cyberspace makes it difficult to
determine how, when, and where to respond," according to the report.
"The design of the internet lends itself to anonymity and, combined with
applications intended to hide the identity of users, attribution will continue
to be a challenge for the foreseeable future."
The Defense Department is putting increased pressure on
military commanders to consider cyberspace as part of their operations and
realistically calculate the impact to operations posed by an offensive strike
on America.
"Once one segment of a network has been exploited or
denied, the perception of data unreliability may inappropriately extend beyond
the compromised segment due to uncertainty about how networks interact,"
the document explains. "Therefore, it is imperative commanders be well
informed of the status of the portions of cyberspace upon which they depend and
understand the impact to planned and ongoing operations."
The plurality of threats from across the globe pose
increased challenges to the American military's ability to take the lead in
these cyber wars.
"Cyberspace presents the JFC's operations with many
threats, from nation-states to individual actors to accidents and natural
hazards," according to the document.
"To initiate an appropriate defensive response,
attribution of threats in cyberspace is crucial for any actions external to the
defended cyberspace beyond authorized self-defense," the report notes.
"In cyberspace, there is no stateless maneuver space. Therefore, when U.S.
military forces maneuver in foreign cyberspace, mission and policy requirements
may require they maneuver clandestinely without the knowledge of the state
where the infrastructure is located."
The private nature of Internet service providers (ISPs)
and commercial assets further complicates the Defense Department's efforts in
this realm.
"The prosperity and security of our nation are
significantly enhanced by our use of cyberspace, yet these same developments
have led to increased exposure of vulnerabilities and a critical dependence on
cyberspace, for the US in general and the joint force in particular," the
report notes.
Comments
Post a Comment