Cyberpower: Security Strategy Issues for State Actors in the Internet-dependent Age
Homeland Security Digital Library Blog 2013-05-23
Summary:
The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom report “The Global Cyber Game: The Defence Academy Cyber Inquiry Report” “presents a synthesis of the findings of the Defence Academy Cyber Inquiry. The Inquiry was an open source research programme formed in response to a strategic research question posed by the Ministry of Defence. The report gives an overview of the Cyber Inquiry’s big-picture conclusions.”
“It provides a systematic way of thinking about cyberpower and its use by a range of global players. The global cyberpower contest is framed as a Global Cyber Game, played out on a 'Cyber Gameboard' – a framework that can be used for strategic and tactical thinking about cyber strategy.
The novel ‘Cyber Gameboard’ consists of a nine-cell grid. The horizontal direction on the grid is divided into three columns representing aspects of information (i.e. cyber): connection, computation and cognition. The vertical direction on the grid is divided into three rows representing types of power: coercion, co-option, and cooperation. The nine cells of the grid represent all the possible combinations of power and information – in other words, cyberpower. The grid then allows interactions between cyber players to be mapped.
The urgency of addressing cyberpower in this way is a consequence of the very high value of the Internet and the hazards of its current militarization. The report examines the emergence of cyberpower and the issues it raises for global actors in an Internet-dependent era.”