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The Cyber Defense Review

Civil Cyber Defense – A New Model for Cyber Civic Engagement

By Dr. Mark Grzegorzewski, Maj. Margaret Smith, Dr. Barnett Koven | December 05, 2023

In a world of ubiquitous connections, cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Gone are the days when the actions of others had little impact on a person’s day-to-day ac¬tivities. We are now completely digitally interdependent, meaning the actions of one individual can be the vulnerability that allows adversaries to target a soft spot in the United States’ (U.S.) digital infrastructure. We argue a whole-of-society approach to cybersecurity is needed. The involvement of all members of society is required to de¬fend against the scourge of cyber intrusions emanating from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. We do not promote individuals or corporations engaging in offensive cyber operations, but instead advocate that the U.S. already has a non-governmental model for citizen involvement in entities like the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), to adopt for cyberspace. We build on Estonia’s Cyber Defense League (CDL) organizational model and the works of others, advocating for establishing a Civil Cyber Defense (CCD) in the U.S. We conclude with specific actions this new entity could take to increase the overall cybersecurity posture of the U.S. and identify potential issues with our CCD concept.


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