Spectrum of Cyber Conflict

The purpose of developing a spectrum of cyber conflict is to show the range of cyber attacks from unintentional actors such as hackers and criminals with only self-serving interests to intentional actors with intent to affect national security. This spectrum will synthesize the type of attack, intentional or unintentional actors, location of attack, and will identify what agency will have the authority to identify and track down the perpetrator. It will also identify what type of appropriate response is likely to be taken by the US government against perpetrators ranging from criminal prosecution to extradition or a national policy response such as diplomatic, economic or military action against a state.

It is important to remember that any actor from a juvenile hacker to a sophisticated state intelligence service may have the capability to do extensive damage to our national information infrastructure and the capability to track and identify the perpetrator will always be extremely important regardless of the perpetrator‘s intentions. Sometimes, it may be as important to identify a criminal hacker with no national security interests as it may be to prove a state sponsored cyber warfare attack. Regardless, without the close coordination between DOD and law enforcement agencies, a quick and accurate response by the US government will not be possible.

Figure 5 depicts a spectrum of cyber conflict as discussed in this paper. The first discriminator is the type of attack. The type of attacks may range from cyber-crime to hacktivism, cyber-espionage, and cyber-terrorism all the way to cyber-warfare. The second distinction important to fully understand the cyber threat is the intention of the cyber actor (Unintentional vs. Intentional). Thirdly, it is paramount to identify the initial location of the attack and whether it is coming from within or outside the United States. These three factors (type of attack, intention of the perpetrator and location of perpetrator) will determine whether or not law enforcement or DOD initially responds to trace back the attack and will also affect the type of retaliation taken against the perpetrator. The following description will explain the Spectrum of Conflict as shown in Figure 5 below.
Figure