Cyberspace, where information--and hence serious value--is stored and manipulated, is a tempting target. An attacker could be a person, group, or state and may disrupt or corrupt the systems from which cyberspace is built. When states are involved, it is tempting to compare fights to warfare, but there are important differences. The author addresses these differences and ways the United States protect itself in the face of attack.
With billions of computers in existence, cyberspace, 'the virtual world created when they are connected,' is said to be the new medium of power. Computer hackers operating from anywhere can enter cyberspace and take control of other people's computers, stealing their information, corrupting their workings, and shutting them down. Modern societies and militaries, both pervaded by computers, are supposedly at risk. As Conquest in Cyberspace explains, however, information systems and information itself are too easily conflated, and persistent mastery over the former is difficult to achieve. The author also investigates how far 'friendly conquest' in cyberspace extends, such as the power to persuade users to adopt new points of view. He discusses the role of public policy in managing cyberspace conquests and shows how the Internet is becoming more ubiquitous and complex, such as in the use of artificial intelligence.
Richard A. Clarke warned America once before about the havoc terrorism would wreak on our national security—and he was right. Now he warns us of another threat, silent but equally dangerous. Cyber War is a powerful book about technology, government, and military strategy; about criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. It explains clearly and convincingly what cyber war is, how cyber weapons work, and how vulnerable we are as a nation and as individuals to the vast and looming web of cyber criminals. This is the first book about the war of the future—cyber war—and a convincing argument that we may already be in peril of losing it.
Cyber Warfare Techniques, Tactics and Tools for Security Practitioners provides a comprehensive look at how and why digital warfare is waged. This book explores the participants, battlefields, and the tools and techniques used during today's digital conflicts. The concepts discussed will give students of information security a better idea of how cyber conflicts are carried out now, how they will change in the future, and how to detect and defend against espionage, hacktivism, insider threats and non-state actors such as organized criminals and terrorists. Every one of our systems is under attack from multiple vectors - our defenses must be ready all the time and our alert systems must detect the threats every time. This book provides concrete examples and real-world guidance on how to identify and defend a network against malicious attacks. It considers relevant technical and factual information from an insider's point of view, as well as the ethics, laws and consequences of cyber war and how computer criminal law may change as a result. Starting with a definition of cyber warfare, the book's 15 chapters discuss the following topics: the cyberspace battlefield; cyber doctrine; cyber warriors; logical, physical, and psychological weapons; computer network exploitation; computer network attack and defense; non-state actors in computer network operations; legal system impacts; ethics in cyber warfare; cyberspace challenges; and the future of cyber war. This book is a valuable resource to those involved in cyber warfare activities, including policymakers, penetration testers, security professionals, network and systems administrators, and college instructors. The information provided on cyber tactics and attacks can also be used to assist in developing improved and more efficient procedures and technical defenses. Managers will find the text useful in improving the overall risk management strategies for their organizations. - Provides concrete examples and real-world guidance on how to identify and defend your network against malicious attacks - Dives deeply into relevant technical and factual information from an insider's point of view - Details the ethics, laws and consequences of cyber war and how computer criminal law may change as a result
This book features a wide spectrum of the latest computer science research relating to cyber warfare, including military and policy dimensions. It is the first book to explore the scientific foundation of cyber warfare and features research from the areas of artificial intelligence, game theory, programming languages, graph theory and more. The high-level approach and emphasis on scientific rigor provides insights on ways to improve cyber warfare defense worldwide. Cyber Warfare: Building the Scientific Foundation targets researchers and practitioners working in cyber security, especially government employees or contractors. Advanced-level students in computer science and electrical engineering with an interest in security will also find this content valuable as a secondary textbook or reference.
“We are dropping cyber bombs. We have never done that before.”—U.S. Defense Department official A new era of war fighting is emerging for the U.S. military. Hi-tech weapons have given way to hi tech in a number of instances recently: A computer virus is unleashed that destroys centrifuges in Iran, slowing that country’s attempt to build a nuclear weapon. ISIS, which has made the internet the backbone of its terror operations, finds its network-based command and control systems are overwhelmed in a cyber attack. A number of North Korean ballistic missiles fail on launch, reportedly because their systems were compromised by a cyber campaign. Offensive cyber operations like these have become important components of U.S. defense strategy and their role will grow larger. But just what offensive cyber weapons are and how they could be used remains clouded by secrecy. This new volume by Amy Zegart and Herb Lin is a groundbreaking discussion and exploration of cyber weapons with a focus on their strategic dimensions. It brings together many of the leading specialists in the field to provide new and incisive analysis of what former CIA director Michael Hayden has called “digital combat power” and how the United States should incorporate that power into its national security strategy.
In a world of increasing dependence on information technology, the prevention of cyberattacks on a nation's important computer and communications systems and networks is a problem that looms large. Given the demonstrated limitations of passive cybersecurity defense measures, it is natural to consider the possibility that deterrence might play a useful role in preventing cyberattacks against the United States and its vital interests. At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Research Council undertook a two-phase project aimed to foster a broad, multidisciplinary examination of strategies for deterring cyberattacks on the United States and of the possible utility of these strategies for the U.S. government. The first phase produced a letter report providing basic information needed to understand the nature of the problem and to articulate important questions that can drive research regarding ways of more effectively preventing, discouraging, and inhibiting hostile activity against important U.S. information systems and networks. The second phase of the project entailed selecting appropriate experts to write papers on questions raised in the letter report. A number of experts, identified by the committee, were commissioned to write these papers under contract with the National Academy of Sciences. Commissioned papers were discussed at a public workshop held June 10-11, 2010, in Washington, D.C., and authors revised their papers after the workshop. Although the authors were selected and the papers reviewed and discussed by the committee, the individually authored papers do not reflect consensus views of the committee, and the reader should view these papers as offering points of departure that can stimulate further work on the topics discussed. The papers presented in this volume are published essentially as received from the authors, with some proofreading corrections made as limited time allowed.
Each era brings with it new techniques and methods of waging a war. While military scholars and experts have mastered land, sea, air and space warfare, time has come that they studied the art of cyberwar too. Our neighbours have acquired the capabilities to undertake this new form of asymmetric form of warfare. India too therefore needs to acquire the capabilities to counter their threat. Cyber space seems to have invaded every aspect of our life. More and more systems whether public or private are getting automated and networked. This high dependence of our critical infrastructure on Information and Communication Technology exposes it to the vulnerabilities of cyberspace. Enemy now can target such infrastructure through the cyberspace and degrade/ destroy them. This implies that the critical information infrastructure of the country and military networks today are both equally vulnerable to enemy’s cyberattacks. India therefore must protect its critical information infrastructure as she would protect the military infrastructure in the battlefield. Public – Private Partnership model is the only model which would succeed in doing so. While the Government needs to lay down the policies and frame the right laws, private sector needs to invest into cyber security. Organisations at national level and at the level of armed forces need to be raised which can protect our assets and are also capable of undertaking offensive cyber operations. This book is an attempt to understand various nuances of cyber warfare and how it affects our national security. Based on the cyber threat environment, the books recommends a framework of cyber doctrine and cyber strategies as well as organisational structure of various organisations which a nation needs to invest in.
