Nation-State Cyber Offensive Capabilities

Download or read book Nation-State Cyber Offensive Capabilities written by Eduardo Izycki and published by Editora Dialética. This book was released on 2022-01-31 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most striking features of the 21st century is the widespread adoption of information technology in every aspect of the modern life of individuals, society, or nation-states. When compared to land, sea, air, and space, cyberspace has unique features. Its ""geography"" is easily modified, oceans and mountains are hard to be changed, but entire cyberspace regions can be turned on or off with a button click. Moreover, anonymity, the low cost of acquiring or developing offensive capabilities, and the plausible deniability of actions have turned this dimension into a theater of operations for nation-states. This book does not focus on the worst-case scenario where cyber offensive actions will revolutionize war. Instead, it intends to provide empirical analysis regarding the current state of cyber conflict. This book presents evidence of 29 countries engaging in state-sponsored actions and 85 nations acquiring cyber offensive technologies from private vendors. The numbers challenge the average perception of concentration of cyber capabilities in a few ""traditional"" actors. Cyberspace provides alternatives for the bargaining and interactions to nation-states below the threshold of the use of force. As a result, actors can achieve strategic outcomes and influence the balance of power without resorting to an armed attack and minimizing the risk of a military or nuclear response from their targets.