The End of Cyberspace

Martin Libicki and the conquest of cyberspace

A decade ago, Martin Libicki wrote Defending Cyberspace, and Other Metaphors. Among other things, two essays examine the utility of the metaphor of "cyberspace" in military thinking:

"Deterring Information Attacks," continues the examination of the metaphor that information warfare is indeed warfare by discussing the problems of retaliation and asking whether an explicit policy of retaliation is workable and thus likely to deter....

The last essay, "Point, Counterpoint, and Counter-counterpoint," was inspired by a search for a new metaphor for new kinds of warfare. Conflict has classically been modeled by orthogonal lines of defense and attack. Today's asymmetric warfare is about points, blots, and gated fences, topological forms with particular applicability to information warfare.

Tonight I see that Libicki's latest book, Conquest in Cyberspace: National Security and Information Warfare, is coming out this year. From the Cambridge Press catalog description:

With billions of computers in existence, cyberspace, 'the virtual world created when they are connected,' is said to be the new medium of power. Computer hackers operating from anywhere can enter cyberspace and take control of other people's computers, stealing their information, corrupting their workings, and shutting them down. Modern societies and militaries, both pervaded by computers, are supposedly at risk. As Conquest in Cyberspace explains, however, information systems and information itself are too easily conflated, and persistent mastery over the former is difficult to achieve.

Technorati Tags: books, military, security

Defending cyberspace

My second post on this blog was about the new Air Force mission statement, which included a mention of the defense of cyberspace. Now, Wired News reports that

The U.S. Air Force plans to set up what could become a major command aimed at safeguarding U.S. military and civilian cyberspace, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said on Thursday....

Wynne said the new command would be part of the 8th Air Force based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, a unit made famous during the combined armored offensive in Europe during World War II.

The mission of bombers now within the 8th Air Force would remain, and the new cyber-command reflects the Air Force's growing reliance on computer networks, data and electronic warfare.

Wynne said he hoped the new command would eventually be on par with such major Air Force units as the Space Command and the Air Combat Command. In creating what could become a unit led by a four-star Air Force general, the Air Force would set the stage for significant budget resources and congressional interest.

Clearly, even in a period when other meanings of cyberspace are eroding, the concept of cyberspace as a space in which Bad Guys have to be confronted and defeated is still very much alive in some circles.

Technorati Tags: crime, cyberspace, end of cyberspace, military

So much for the end of cyberspace?

Well, I guess I can give up the whole end of cyberspace argument. The Air Force's new mission statement was recently announced to great fanfare:

The mission of the United States Air Force is to deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests -- to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace.

Of course, there's no question that electronic warfare-- ranging from attacks on control systems to theft of sensitive information-- is a growing problem. But what strikes me about this mission statement is that it implicitly treats cyberspace as a place-- as a theatre of operations equal to air or space. The desire to localize the threat-- or turn the threat into one that exists somewhere separate from the real world-- is interesting.

More generally, perhaps military thinking about warfare in cyberspace would be worth looking at for this project. The have been several hundred articles on cyberwarfare, and a 2001 book by Gregory Rattray titled Strategic Warfare in Cyberspace, on "strategic information warfare waged via digital means."

And maybe it's just me, but wouldn't "sovereign options" be an excellent name for a band, or perhaps a high-end line of men's accessories?

[To the tune of Marvin Gaye, "God is love," from the album "What's going on". Wasn't Marvin a genius?]

Technorati Tags: cyberspace, military