Trifecta of Cyberwarfare

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Notes

1 Defined as entities that can be owned by governments but act like mercenaries.

2 While the author shies away from defining cyberwar—because, in her view, it is such a new and developing front—she does define the differences between defense and offense. Also explained is the critical need to differentiate between cyberattacks and cyberwarfare, the latter carried out by criminals, corporations, hackers, and malicious groups. The author defines cyber offense as deliberate actions to alter, disrupt, and destroy computer systems and information, complicated by the economic connections between the countries and the difficulty containing malware; Van Wie Davis likens it to nuclear fallout.

3 Case studies of prominent cyberattacks, and how the attacks are examples of policy and strategy, offer enough detail to be conclusive and clear, but not so much technical minutia as to deter noncyber experts.

4 The author also discusses the U.S. attitude of owning cyberspace because most of cyberspace originates in the United States, and that the United States acts on the world stage as a cyber-policeman.

5 Apart from a brief mention of privateers in 1999, most Chinese case studies are from 2014 to 2019. The studies and chapter support that China’s goal is economic dominance and public relations (PR), which was recently witnessed by the world with Chinese PR campaigns during the COVID-19 outbreak.

6 According to the author, China views itself as equal to the United States in this area.

7 The author stresses how problematic shadow warfare is by discussing current Russia, China, and U.S. policies toward unilateral agreement and collaboration. However, the author is quick to point out that in cyberwarfare, the rules and players are always shifting, while ideologies may remain stable. Perhaps it is because the cybergame is so fluid that she is adamant about the need for state actors to agree on shadow warfare rules of engagement.

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Notes on contributors

Margaret S. Marangione

Margaret S. Marangione is a Researcher at Syntelligent Analytical Solutions. She is a board member on Global Security and Intelligence Studies Journal. The author can be contacted at [email protected].