The nature of cyberspace is ever-changing, and with the changes come to an inevitable evolution. What was once a communication realm and then e-commerce has grown to encompass what is now known as critical infrastructure (Singer and Allan 15). Therefore, cyberspace has embodied the dominant platform for life within the 21st century, and with this, cyber aggression results mainly in the threat of information resources (Harknett et al. 6). Clapper shows that Cyberspace operations have resulted in an enhanced emphasis on data manipulation or changes that compromise integrity (2). The broader adoption of internet of things (IoT) devices and artificial intelligence (AI) are services deliveries in institutions like health care and public utilities and minimize trust in systems.
Further, with the global threat on information, it becomes critical that countries can safeguard their asymmetric offensive opportunities that are persistent and present vulnerabilities when utilizing IoT. As Clapper argues, the evolution in cyberspace among significant infrastructure sectors constituting energy, health care, telecommunications, finance, water, and transportation, among many others, are at constant risk of large-scale theft of information (2). Despite efforts by the various security organizations in the United States to effectively utilize cyberspace in safeguarding the country and its people’s information, the challenge of undetected access to target networks still exists.
Accountability in information security personnel remains another issue of concern. Unless the appropriate measures are taken to improve the offensive tradecraft, cover organizations creation, and proxies use, a high-confidence responsibility attribution will continue to jeopardize state-sponsored operations (Bryant 14). The issue of identity will continue to be exploited as more personal and governmental information continues to be at risk from counterintelligence operations (Clapper 3). Further, the majority of the actors in cyber security remain undeterred primarily because of significantly low consequences.
Works Cited
Bryant, W.D. “Mission Assurance Through Integrated Cyber Defense.” Air and Space Power Journal. 30.4 (2016): 5-17.
Clapper, James R. Statement for the Record on the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the Us Intelligence Community, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. 2016.
Harknett, Richard J, John P. Callaghan, and Rudi Kauffman. “Leaving Deterrence Behind: War-Fighting and National Cybersecurity.” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 7.1 2010.
Singer, P W, and Allan Friedman. “How It All Works.” 2014.