Deterrence of Cyber Attacks

In recent years, against the backdrop of a constantly evolving modern world, cyber attacks have grown increasingly likely. Technologies such as social media and the cloud have made it easier and more convenient for things such as data collection, and transactions to be stored online, connected to some type of network. While this is true for private individuals, the same can be said for the United States as a country as well. The United States is constantly using cutting-edge technology to make advances. This means that cyber attacks can threaten the U.S.’s national security if adversaries were to infiltrate networks with top secret information, or if data was tampered with. Despite this, America lacks a public, well-developed strategy for deterring cyber attacks, and does not seem to be in the process of constructing one. The main case against a cyber deterrence strategy is that it is difficult to identify actual or potential cyber attackers, making such a strategy practically futile.

This paper argues that this attribution problem is relatively insignificant, and that a cyber deterrence strategy will be necessary and important to defend the United States. The cyber attacks that are most worth defending against are those that are conducted in order to push political agendas or to exert pressure on the U.S.. Under these circumstances, the identities of attackers will be known or reliably inferred, and deterrence mechanisms can be applied to these situations. The most effective cyber deterrence strategy will be tailored to fit the diverse adversaries that the United States may face, and will appropriately involve cyber, diplomatic, economic, and military tools.