Rethinking Cyber Warfare provides a fresh understanding of the role that digital disruption plays in contemporary international security and proposes a new approach to more effectively restrain and manage cyberattacks.

New Media Politics: Rethinking Activism and National Security in Cyberspace explores many of the questions surrounding the new challenges that have arisen as a result of the emergence of cyberspace, including cyber-activism, cyberterrorism, and cyber-security. The chapters in this volume provide case studies that span an array of geographies as they debate questions regarding conceptual issues in cyberspace and the relationship between politics, cyberterrorism and cyber-activism, as well as state and international regulations concerning cyberspace, resistance movements in cyberspace, and media frameworks concerning terrorism, civil liberties, and government restrictions. This collection will provide a venue for discussions on the diverse issues surrounding the theme of new media politics from international and interdisciplinary perspectives. The volume is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on how cyberspace has been used in activism, acts of resistance and protests. The second part investigates issues related to how online media is used in terrorism and how governments have sometimes perceived cyberspace as a threat, leading at times to regulations which threaten to curtail liberties in the name of protecting the “security” of the state against enemies that may be seen as “internal” or “external.”

Recent successful "hacks," allegedly carried out by professionals acting on behalf of, or in concert with nation-states have heightened concerns about cyber warfare and sovereignty in the context of cyberspace. To maintain the integrity of U.S. and allied sovereign borders, it is imperative that security measures and defenses are coordinated and choreographed at the policy, strategy, and operational levels in the cyber domain, as well as in the physical world. The determination of what constitutes cyber sovereignty will greatly influence identification and understanding of threats, Department of Defense (DoD) preparation of the battlefield, the development of capabilities, the identification of participants, and planning for cyberspace operations. Considering the stakes, U.S. leaders cannot afford the consequences of allowing the enemy to define the boundaries of cyber sovereignty and the rules of cyberspace engagement.

What people are saying about Inside Cyber Warfare "The necessary handbook for the 21st century." --Lewis Shepherd, Chief Tech Officer and Senior Fellow, Microsoft Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments "A must-read for policy makers and leaders who need to understand the big-picture landscape of cyber war." --Jim Stogdill, CTO, Mission Services Accenture You may have heard about "cyber warfare" in the news, but do you really know what it is? This book provides fascinating and disturbing details on how nations, groups, and individuals throughout the world are using the Internet as an attack platform to gain military, political, and economic advantages over their adversaries. You'll learn how sophisticated hackers working on behalf of states or organized crime patiently play a high-stakes game that could target anyone, regardless of affiliation or nationality. Inside Cyber Warfare goes beyond the headlines of attention-grabbing DDoS attacks and takes a deep look inside multiple cyber-conflicts that occurred from 2002 through summer 2009. Learn how cyber attacks are waged in open conflicts, including recent hostilities between Russia and Georgia, and Israel and Palestine Discover why Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Vkontakte, and other sites on the social web are mined by the intelligence services of many nations Read about China's commitment to penetrate the networks of its technologically superior adversaries as a matter of national survival Find out why many attacks originate from servers in the United States, and who's responsible Learn how hackers are "weaponizing" malware to attack vulnerabilities at the application level

Despite all the attention, cyberspace is far from secure. Why this is so reflects conceptual weaknesses more than imperfect technologies. Two questions highlight shortcomings in the discussion of cybersecurity. The first is why, after more than two decades, we have not seen anything like a cyber Pearl Harbor, cyber 9/11, or cyber catastrophe. The second is why, despite the increasing quantity of recommendations, there has been so little progress. This report explores these questions and assesses the accuracy of our perceptions of cybersecurity.

"In 'Cyber Persistence Theory', Michael P. Fischerkeller, Emily O. Goldman, and Richard J. Harknett argue that this current theory only works well in the cyber strategic space of armed conflict but it is completely misaligned for conflict outside of war - where most state-sponsored adversarial cyber activity occurs. As they show, the reigning paradigm of deterrence theory cannot fully explain what is taking place with respect to cyber conflict. Therefore, the authors develop a novel approach to national cyber security strategy and policy that realigns theory and practice."--

Cyber weapons and the possibility of cyber conflict—including interference in foreign political campaigns, industrial sabotage, attacks on infrastructure, and combined military campaigns—require policymakers, scholars, and citizens to rethink twenty-first-century warfare. Yet because cyber capabilities are so new and continually developing, there is little agreement about how they will be deployed, how effective they can be, and how they can be managed. Written by leading scholars, the fourteen case studies in this volume will help policymakers, scholars, and students make sense of contemporary cyber conflict through historical analogies to past military-technological problems. The chapters are divided into three groups. The first—What Are Cyber Weapons Like?—examines the characteristics of cyber capabilities and how their use for intelligence gathering, signaling, and precision striking compares with earlier technologies for such missions. The second section—What Might Cyber Wars Be Like?—explores how lessons from several wars since the early nineteenth century, including the World Wars, could apply—or not—to cyber conflict in the twenty-first century. The final section—What Is Preventing and/or Managing Cyber Conflict Like?—offers lessons from past cases of managing threatening actors and technologies.

Just a sample of the contents ... contains over 2,800 total pages .... PROSPECTS FOR THE RULE OF LAW IN CYBERSPACE Cyberwarfare and Operational Art CYBER WARFARE GOVERNANCE: EVALUATION OF CURRENT INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON THE OFFENSIVE USE OF CYBER Cyber Attacks and the Legal Justification for an Armed Response UNTYING OUR HANDS: RECONSIDERING CYBER AS A SEPARATE INSTRUMENT OF NATIONAL POWER Effects-Based Operations in the Cyber Domain Recommendations for Model-Driven Paradigms for Integrated Approaches to Cyber Defense MILLENNIAL WARFARE IGNORING A REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS: THE NEED TO CREATE A SEPARATE BRANCH OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR CYBER WARFARE SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND CYBER WARFARE LESSONS FROM THE FRONT: A CASE STUDY OF RUSSIAN CYBER WARFARE ADAPTING UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE DOCTRINE TO CYBERSPACE OPERATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF HACKTIVIST BASED INSURGENCIES Addressing Human Factors Gaps in Cyber Defense Airpower History and the Cyber Force of the Future How Organization for the Cyber Domain Outpaced Strategic Thinking and Forgot the Lessons of the Past THE COMMAND OF THE TREND: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON IN THE INFORMATION AGE SPYING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS: CONTESTED NORMS IN CYBERSPACE AIR FORCE CYBERWORX REPORT: REMODELING AIR FORCE CYBER COMMAND & CONTROL THE CYBER WAR: MAINTAINING AND CONTROLLING THE “KEY CYBER TERRAIN” OF THE CYBERSPACE DOMAIN WHEN NORMS FAIL: NORTH KOREA AND CYBER AS AN ELEMENT OF STATECRAFT AN ANTIFRAGILE APPROACH TO PREPARING FOR CYBER CONFLICT AIR FORCE CYBER MISSION ASSURANCE SOURCES OF MISSION UNCERTAINTY Concurrency Attacks and Defenses Cyber Workforce Retention Airpower Lessons for an Air Force Cyber-Power Targeting ¬Theory IS BRINGING BACK WARRANT OFFICERS THE ANSWER? A LOOK AT HOW THEY COULD WORK IN THE AIR FORCE CYBER OPERATIONS CAREER FIELD NEW TOOLS FOR A NEW TERRAIN AIR FORCE SUPPORT TO SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN THE CYBER ENVIRONMENT Learning to Mow Grass: IDF Adaptations to Hybrid Threats CHINA’S WAR BY OTHER MEANS: UNVEILING CHINA’S QUEST FOR INFORMATION DOMINANCE THE ISLAMIC STATE’S TACTICS IN SYRIA: ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SHIFTING A PEACEFUL ARAB SPRING INTO TERRORISM NON-LETHAL WEAPONS: THE KEY TO A MORE AGGRESSIVE STRATEGY TO COMBAT TERRORISM THOUGHTS INVADE US: LEXICAL COGNITION AND CYBERSPACE The Cyber Threat to Military Just-In-Time Logistics: Risk Mitigation and the Return to Forward Basing PROSPECTS FOR THE RULE OF LAW IN CYBERSPACE Cyberwarfare and Operational Art CYBER WARFARE GOVERNANCE: EVALUATION OF CURRENT INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON THE OFFENSIVE USE OF CYBER Cyber Attacks and the Legal Justification for an Armed Response UNTYING OUR HANDS: RECONSIDERING CYBER AS A SEPARATE INSTRUMENT OF NATIONAL POWER Effects-Based Operations in the Cyber Domain Recommendations for Model-Driven Paradigms for Integrated Approaches to Cyber Defense MILLENNIAL WARFARE IGNORING A REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS: THE NEED TO CREATE A SEPARATE BRANCH OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR CYBER WARFARE SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND CYBER WARFARE LESSONS FROM THE FRONT: A CASE STUDY OF RUSSIAN CYBER WARFARE ADAPTING UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE DOCTRINE TO CYBERSPACE OPERATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF HACKTIVIST BASED INSURGENCIES Addressing Human Factors Gaps in Cyber Defense Airpower History and the Cyber Force of the Future How Organization for the Cyber Domain Outpaced Strategic Thinking and Forgot the Lessons of the Past THE COMMAND OF THE TREND: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON IN THE INFORMATION AGE SPYING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS: CONTESTED NORMS IN CYBERSPACE AIR FORCE CYBERWORX REPORT: REMODELING AIR FORCE CYBER COMMAND & CONTROL THE CYBER WAR: MAINTAINING AND CONTROLLING THE “KEY CYBER TERRAIN” OF THE CYBERSPACE DOMAIN WHEN NORMS FAIL: NORTH KOREA AND CYBER AS AN ELEMENT OF STATECRAFT AN ANTIFRAGILE APPROACH TO PREPARING FOR CYBER CONFLICT AIR FORCE CYBER MISSION ASSURANCE SOURCES OF MISSION UNCERTAINTY Concurrency Attacks and Defenses Cyber Workforce Retention

Cyber-attacks that cause physical consequences are considered to be in violation of the use of force prohibition should the effects reach a certain severity threshold. That premise does not extend to cyber-attacks that cause economic harm due to a dated distinction between kinetic and other effects. This article presents the argument that Article 2(4) of the UN Charter on the prohibition on the threat or use of force ought to apply to economic cyber-attacks. As a result, the right of self-defense could be triggered by the gravest of economic cyber-attacks, as well as the UN Security Council authority under Chapter VII in response to an economic cyber-attack. The underlying assumption is that the effects of economic cyber-attacks can be just as severe and threatening as the effects of kinetic cyber-attacks, and therefore, there is a need to reformulate the boundaries of the use of force paradigm to encompass the additional range of harmful cyber activities. This article proposes a framework consisting of a set of factors to assess economic cyber-attacks under the use of force paradigm.