The Washington Post: Will deterrence have a role in the cyberspace ‘forever war’?

An opinion piece in The Washington Post examines cyber security through the lens of a new book co-authored by UC cyber security expert Richard Harknett: “Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining National Security in Cyberspace,” released May 20. 

Harknett, a professor and head of the UC School of Public and International Affairs, wrote the book with Michael Fischerkeller and Emily Goldman. 

In The Post’s opinion piece, columnist David Ignatius compares and contrasts modern cyber warfare with past threats such as nuclear war and military combat, and cites the book’s authors as experts on the contemporary enemy.   

In the nuclear environment, the authors say, security is derived from the absence of action and the threat of an assured response. In the conventional environment, security depends on episodic action in militarized crises and armed conflict. The difference in advancing positive national security outcomes between the nuclear, conventional, and cyber strategic environments could not be starker.

“Cyberweapons fundamentally change the nature of warfare. Borders don’t matter much to digital code. And cyberwar is a continuum (and always happening at a low level), rather than an on-off switch. It’s a new domain, with new rules,” the author’s wrote in a separate article for The National Interest.  

Professor Harknett is a trusted source for local, regional and national media.

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Featured image at top of Richard Harknett. Photo/Andrew Wigley/UC Marketing + Brand.