CSEE’s Dr. Rick Forno discussed cyber warfare in Ash Hunt’s latest policy paper ‘Cyber Quantifiable Restrictions: The Requirements to Generate Agreed Restrictions on the Use of Cyber Capabilities’ appearing in The Diplomatic Courier. Among other things, Hunt attempts to show that agreed restrictions should not blanket the use of cyber capabilities, but rather the unacceptable use of a range of capabilities that could be used to harm human life.
Recently, it has become apparent that “we’re in a [cyber] arms race” in a largely unregulated domain—the cyber wild west. With the increased diffusion of technology, nations have begun amassing offensive cyber capabilities: utilizing zero-day exploits, distributed denial of server (DDOS) attacks, and weaponized malware technology. Already, “the U.S. has poured billions of dollars into an electronic arsenal,” whilst the “stockpile of exploits runs into the thousands, aimed at every conceivable device.” This exponential growth of cyber arms is particularly dangerous considering the lack of rules and conventions governing the fifth arena of warfare. Dr. Richard Forno from the University of Maryland concedes, “there is no international agreement over what level of cyber warfare is acceptable.” He further recognizes that national systems such as power grids, water treatment plants and medical facilities “do not have adequate protection from hackers.” Clearly, “principles and agreements on cyber warfare must designate sensitive infrastructure as red lines.” It is necessary to afford our critical organizations the same level of protection from cyber hostility as we do from the multitude of other tangible threats.
Source: The Diplomatic Courier Volume 9, Issue 1, January/February 2015