December 18, 2018 — The theft of intellectual property and classified data within the cyber domain poses a threat to the global economy and national security. In this paper, we discuss the concept of digital offensive countermeasures that the United States can use to defend its sensitive data and intellectual property, even after stolen data leaves U.S. Government networks. We analyze the plethora of legal and ethical issues involving the various degrees of invasiveness posed by such defenses against both foreign and domestic targets. The lack of established norms surrounding digital offensive countermeasures presents a unique duality in which such defenses may present a viable cyber deterrent for the United States but may also spark our next conflict. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Although at times subtle, the female Muslim community influences and shapes the international security environment and constitutes a rough median of 49 percent over the estimated 1.6 billion global Muslim population. [1], [2] At the nexus of security and culture, themes like hijab trends highlight cultural shifts and social undercurrents impacting women that have powerful effects on the International Community. Across Eurasia, state-actors ban hijab-styles domestically to counter radicalization, while jihadi-extremists target women with hijab-themed content to bolster recruitment. Considering that women are susceptible to extremist recruitment,how can we expand the perspective on issues affecting Eurasian Muslim women by understanding the jihadi popular culture? MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming ubiquitous, particularly as part of solutions to defense problems in cyberspace. It seems like few companies want to risk marketing products that cannot be described using this term,perhaps for fear of losing ground to competitors who can. But what exactly is meant by AI? Is it all just marketing hype? The answer, of course, is far from simple. To move beyond the hype, we need to look at what AI is, what it is not and how the technology needs to mature to live up to its promise. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Intelligent autonomous agents will be widely present on the battlefield of the future.The proliferation of intelligent agents is the emerging reality of warfare, and they will form an ever-growing fraction of total military assets. By necessity, intelligent autonomous cyber defense agents are likely to become primary cyber fighters on the future battlefield. Initial explorations have identified the key functions, components and their interactions for a potential reference architecture of such an agent. However, it is beyond the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support an agent that could operate intelligently in an environment as complex as the real battlefield. A number of difficult challenges are yet to be resolved. At the same time, a growing body of research in Government and academia demonstrates promising steps towards overcoming some of the challenges.The industry is beginning to embrace approaches that may contribute to technologies of autonomous intelligent agents for the cyber defense of the Army networks. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Cyberspace is a malleable and seemingly ubiquitous environment through which information flows. Armed forces use this information to make decisions and take action. The fundamental importance of cyberspace to modern military operations leads threat actors to desire access to and control over its components.In response, organizations like the Royal Navy conduct defensive Cyber-Operations(CO) to protect their information networks and platforms. At the same time,offensive CO allow armed forces to take advantage of the reach of cyberspace to weaken the position of their adversaries. This paper discusses the nature of the threats faced by national-security institutions, and the doctrinal factors that policy-makers must consider.The paper reviews the approach to CO of several countries and evaluates the work done by the Royal Navy in developing cyber capabilities. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Today, organizations are faced with the overwhelming challenge of protecting their enterprise against threat actors that are well resourced and constantly evolving. While most clients have a traditional Security Operations Center(SOC) to identify vulnerabilities and catch harmful activity on their networks, historical evidence proves that perimeter defense alone is not enough. To combat these evolving threats, traditional approaches to Cyber defense must evolve, and enterprises must go on the offensive. One emerging approach is Advanced Threat Hunting. An approach that pairs best-in-class Cyber Defense tools with trained threat analysts who have a deep understanding of their operating environment and an ability to ask the right questions. Advanced Threat Hunting, in conjunction with the client’s current security posture, offers a proactive, defense in-depth solution focused on finding malicious actors. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Earlier this year the Pentagon released its first National Defense Strategy in a decade. The document put the long-term great power competition between the United States and what it calls two revisionist powers, China and Russia, at the forefront. Russia’s global influence on the global stage has been steadily resurging over the past ten years, culminating with its intervention in Ukraine in 2014,and China, likewise, has regained its historical status as a global power after its so-called century of humiliation. Though the United States’ attention has been elsewhere– namely on the Middle East and the Global War on Terrorism – for much of this time,it is now renewing its focus on its near peers in a return to the status quo. MORE
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December 18, 2018 — Welcome to, what we believe, is our most thought-provoking edition of
The Cyber Defense Review (CDR). Before we begin this edition of the CDR, I would like to start off by extending my sincere thanks to those who put together the CyCon U.S. conference. This year’s event at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC provided a dynamic environment to address relevant cyber issues confronting the global cyber community. Dr. Ed Sobiesk and the CyCon U.S. conference committee continue to build a monumental event for cyber practitioners. MORE
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December 4, 2018 — Ted Hill was a different type of leader for the U.S. Army than West Point intended to produce when he graduated in 1966. He was adventurous, entrepreneurial, highly talented, quantitative yet out-of-the-box, irreverent to senseless authority, impatient, and very lucky to survive his 4-year required service to the Army after his United States Military Academy (USMA) schooling and commissioning. This autobiography of a West Point graduate, Army officer, and a highly successful academic professor is a fun, action-packed look at the anachronism of a modern 21st-century deep thinker serving in the highly structured Army during the Vietnam era. MORE
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September 17, 2018 — This book takes a holistic view of the cyber world and how it pertains to the United States regarding capabilities, vulnerabilities, policy, and potential strategies. We, as student and instructor in a course entitled Networks for Cyber Operations used this book as one of our texts in the Spring semester of 2016. Author Richard Clarke uses his experience in dealing with nuclear weapons, and his role as a Special Advisor to the President for Cyber Security to explain how the world situation has changed to make cyberattacks a significant threat to the United States.Clarke and Knake do an excellent job of speaking to a general audience (from cyber novices to experienced cyber warriors and hackers). The authors introduce the subject by describing the Israeli cyberattack on Syria before the bombing of a nuclear facility in 2007. This book stays away from the technical aspects of cyberattacks, but provides detailed background information about the Internet and how digitization has created a new battlefield. MORE
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