From: Stratfor
- Recent moves by the Trump administration appear to loosen previous restrictions on U.S. offensive cyber operations.
- A more offensive policy will complement, not replace, the traditional U.S. methods of maintaining cybersecurity: regulation, cooperation with the private sector and the legal process.
- A best-case scenario for a U.S. cyberattack would be disabling computer systems and networks being used against U.S. interests to prevent an attack from happening or to disrupt an attack that is in progress.
- Perhaps the main challenge to U.S. engagement in tit-for-tat cyberattacks is that the United States is by far the biggest target for such attacks.
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Traditional Approaches Likely to Remain Dominant
Despite Bolton’s implication that offensive operations will form a greater share of the U.S. cybersecurity mix, regulation, cooperation with the private sector and the legal process will still account for the bulk of the mix. For example, regulatory bodies like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can punish (or threaten to punish) firms that do not implement best cybersecurity practices and therefore leave themselves vulnerable to external attack. Government cooperation with the private sector, meanwhile, was on display in recent cases like the September indictment of North Korean cyber operatives, which displayed heavy FBI reliance on private security firms such as Mandiant and Alphabet to collect technical evidence and carry out investigations. Finally, prosecution through the traditional legal process will remain the preferred response to cyberattacks in the United States. Of course, this approach will continue to work better on the domestic front, where U.S. law enforcement agencies have the advantage of jurisdiction.
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