Cyber Warfare

American Perspectives on Cyber and Security: Coining the Linguistic Tradition

ABSTRACT

Politicians can no longer escape commenting on cyber issues, which has made cyber discourse part of everyday politics. This article approaches political statements on 'cyber' and analyzes cyber discourse in the context of information operations. The empiricism of the article consists of language analysis, which covers both structural and semantic aspects of political cyber discourse. The results show that cyber is a synonym to threat: The U.S. has the identity of the vulnerable and technologically outdated, while the enemy is skilled and resourceful. This normalization of threat has become part of cyber discourse and legitimizes the exceptional security measures.

Towards a Theory of Just Cyberwar

ABSTRACT

The text applies just war theory to cyberwar from a philosophical perspective. After defining the concept of cyberwar it discusses the ethical criteria of the traditional jus ad bellum and jus in bello, before emphasizing the need for a Kantian jus post bellum. The aim is to reach several ethical norms which may ultimately lead to new international legal norms (an international treaty inspired by jus post bellum) or allow to assess the adaptation of existing legal norms.

Published In

Volume 12, Issue 1

Written By

Klaus-Gerd Giesen

Keywords

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Virtual Non-State Actors as Clausewitzian Centers of Gravity: An Examination for Sensemaking, Elaboration and Discussion

ABSTRACT

Against traditional interpretations of Clausewitzian centers of gravity, we examine the characteristics and behaviors of Non-State Actors (NSAs) operating in virtual space. Possessing disparate aims; ‘virtual NSAs’ (VNSAs) increasingly affect the geopolitical battle-space from diplomacy to kinetic warfare. This paper examines the ways in which VNSAs create spheres of influence, manipulate publics, and form a hardened constraints-set for strategic and operational planning. What are some functional categories that may be applied to the creation of taxonomy when examining VNSAs? This paper examines the qualities of VNSAs themselves so that Center of Gravity (COG) analysis, when relevant, is accurately applied.

Published In

Volume 12, Issue 1

Written By

Larisa Breton

Keywords

Clausewitz

Virtual Non-State Actors

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Retrospective Evaluation of Cyber-security Strategic Reports for the Next Two Decades: From 2000 to 2030

ABSTRACT

Retrospective taxonomical evaluation of the strategic cyber-security reports of the last decade is important to appreciate how the very concept of Cyberspace has evolved along with other important concepts and definitions such as cyber security, cyber terrorism, cyber warfare, and information warfare. For that reason, this paper first evaluates, compares, and contrasts seven cyber-security strategy reports covering the decade from 2002 to 2011. Secondly, armed with the strategic cyber-security reports of the last decade, the paper attempts to ascertain whether the near future cyber-security strategies will continue to be valid.

Published In

Volume 12, Issue 3

Written By

Ahmet Koltuksuz

Keywords

Cyberspace

Cyber Warfare

Information Warfare (IW)

Strategic Cyberspace Analyses

Strategic Reports and Recommendations for Cyber Security

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An Annotated Bibliographical Survey on Cyber Intelligence for Cyber Intelligence Officers

ABSTRACT

Since 2008, Cyberspace is officially regarded as a distinct military domain, along with land, sea, and air for many countries (Goel 2011). The nature of warfare in cyberspace is radically different than traditional warfare: the attacks are more remote, stealthy, and detecting the identity of the adversary may be impossible (Greengard 2010). Nations need intelligence in this relatively new domain of war in order to know the strengths and weaknesses of other nations and themselves. This paper presents a literature survey on computer science methodologies that can be useful for intelligence officers working in cyberspace.

Published In

Volume 13, Issue 4

Written By

Cağatay Yücel

Ahmet Koltuksuz

Keywords

Cyber Intelligence

Cyber Warfare

Espionage

Cyber Intelligence Analysis

Cyber Operations

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Unrestricted Warfare versus Western Traditional Warfare: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT

The rise of the cyber dimension as well as the emergence of new strategic/economic leaders in the world, like China, is currently changing not only the face of the world but also threatens to upset the strategic balance in the world. In this context, the concept of warfare itself must be redefined. This paper seeks to analyse the concept of new warfare precisely, and then to discuss developments in the new art of warfare, and, finally, to establish a redefinition of the stakes.

Published In

Volume 14, Issue 1

Written By

Grégory Commin

Eric Filiol

Keywords

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Towards the Establishment of an African Cyber-Army

ABSTRACT

Cybersecurity has become a critical element of the national security of countries. A cyber-army is a group of soldiers highly skilled in information technology with cyber skills. Cyber-armies are the unseen military cyber power which countries should employ to maintain national cybersecurity. A cyber-army has the ability to launch cyberattacks and collect information in order to gain a strategic military advantage. In this paper, selected cyber-armies are compared. The focus is on the establishment of an African Cyber-Army to defend and protect cyber sovereignty. An African Cyber-Army has to serve nations whose citizens often have low levels of cybersecurity awareness in conjunction with rapidly growing rates of access to cyberspace.