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The Cyber Defense Review

Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining National Security in Cyberspace By Michael P. Fischerkeller, Emily O. Goldman, and Richard Harknett

By Dr. Mark Grzegorzewski | December 05, 2023

Cyber Persistence Theory provides an important discussion of the structural shift in cyber strategy necessary for taking U.S. cybersecurity to the next level. No other work has made such a convincing case for this structural shift as the au¬thors explain the current gap between cyber theory and observed cyber applica¬tion. This alternative to the cyber deterrence paradigm provides an in-depth, academic analysis of the modern cyberspace environment. The main takeaway of this thesis is that cyberspace activity, especially exploitation, is the primarily form of strategic competi¬tion, and that exploitation should be interpreted as an alternative to war wherein states quickly capitalize on other state’s cyberspace vulnerabilities rather than resorting to compellence. According to the authors, in cyberspace, states operate, at a low-cost, out of a structural need to persist and a strategic incentive to achieve short-term gains, without necessarily triggering an armed attack.

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