ISSC 421 APUS Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare Discussion Reply

Write Peer Discussion Response:

Greetings Everyone,

1: Josh is fine. I try not to be too formal.

2: Cybersecurity with a focus on critical infrastructure. Guess I’m technically in my last year. Have 10 more classes and since I do three at a time, I should be done early next year.

3: US Army (retired). SFC who was unfortunately frocked into a 1SG gig at the end.

4: Full time student with occasional remote contract work. Basic IT stuff.

5: Arizona

6: Part of my curriculum and interested in the current scope of cyber conflict. Being an infantryman myself for the last 21 years, I believe that utilizing cyberwarfare in conjunction with traditional military power is going to define the next five to six decades when it comes to international conflicts. The ability to disrupt a target’s response, especially at the national level when it comes to power, transportation, water, or electricity will be a vital part of future military endeavors. As will the defense of those assets.

7: Gym. Video gaming. I’m also learning the piano and started painting those silly Warhammer 40k miniatures for relaxation. Find it quiets my mind like nothing else and helps keep the anxiety and PTSD at bay. Odd, but when you transition from working 60-70 hours a week to doing school 5-6 hours a day, you suddenly find yourself with a lot of free time that needs to be filled. 

8: Not really. Pretty boring person all around. Just me and the wife and our two Scottish fold cats. Never had the urge to have kids and with the crazy deployment schedule (11 years, 8 months off American soil in 21 years. 57 months deployed to actual combat zones) it never seemed like a good idea to bring a kid into that mess as well. 

Q1: Has the threat of CyberWar been exaggerated?

I think the idea of a full-fledged cyberwar has been exaggerated a little, but I think that exaggeration has also concealed how potentially dangerous this field actually can be. The reality is that human beings are now connected in a way that has never happened before. This has created a new area where exploitation and crime are rampant, and no nation was fully prepared for it. 

While I believe we are still years away from actually having a workable battle plan for incorporating cyberwarfare into traditional military operations (aka it will be a combat multiplier in the way close air support or artillery is), the reality is that we are fast approaching that period.  With recent breaches like the SolarWinds hack, gave us a glimpse into how powerful this area could be when it comes to gathering intel and potentially disrupting the target’s ability to respond. 

I predict in the coming decade, there will be a mad rush by governments everywhere to protect themselves and their citizens against potential issues. The only regret is that instead of addressing the realistic applications of this tool, our politicians have turned it into a political talking point aimed only at keeping themselves in power or explaining why they failed.  

References

Staff, N. P. R. (2010, June 16). Has The Cyberwar Threat Been Exaggerated? NPR. https://www.npr.org/2010/06/16/127861446/has-the-cyberwar-threat-been-exaggerated

?Bogost, I. (2022, February 26). “Netwar” Could Be Even Worse Than Cyberwar. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/02/russia-ukraine-conflict-cyberwar/622931/

?Sankaran, S. (n.d.). Council Post: Is The World Ready For A Cyberwar ? Forbes. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/08/30/is-the-world-ready-for-a-cyberwar-/?sh=42f40eb7b80a

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-Josh