Cybersecurity - What Should Keep You Up At Night

#security #cyber #cybersecurity #networksecurity

Cybersecurity is fundamentally changing the way in which we think about warfare and National Defense. Traditionally, weapon systems are straightforward to conceptualize. A weapon can be launched at a target once its within range, and that weapon hits or doesn't hit. Fire a missile at an airplane once its within range. Whether it hits or misses, the result is known. Targets are within prescribed geographic regions and the effects are within a very narrow temporal window.

Now imagine cyber attack as a weapon. A cyber attack can be launched months or years before the effect takes place. The target can be anywhere on the globe. The effect of the cyberattack can be complex, not only resulting in a simple destruction, but could also simply influence behaviors or compromise data to serve a larger goal. Also, targets are no longer constrained to the narrow geographic region of the battlefield. Conflicts can result in combatants targeting civilian infrastructure half way across the world. War starts up in one part of the world, the electrical power grid across the globe shuts down due to cyber attack. In this sense, military targets and civilian targets are blurred. Cyber attacks can happen anywhere, anytime, and to almost any effect.

This has led to the concept of Multi-Domain Operations and the idea that both kinetic and non-kinetic (e.g., cyber attack) must be considered holistically in warfare. It is also changing the way we think about how we test, evaluate, and train. 

This talk will explore some of the ramifications of cyberattacks on how we fight modern wars and how we provide National Security.