The growing threat from cyber weapons and what the United States needs to do to prepare

Cybersecurity is now at the forefront of policy discussion and planning for future conflicts. In many ways, the cyber threat has leveled the playing field, and that presents unique concerns to the United States and its allies. The Final Report of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Cyber Deterrence, released earlier this year, concluded that cyber capabilities of other nations exceed U.S. ability to defend systems, and argued that this will continue to be the case for at least another five to 10 years. With this in mind, a cyber strategy that can credibly deter potential foes is increasingly necessary, as are ways to keep critical systems defended. In both cases, progress has been slow and irregular.

On June 6, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted an event focused cybersecurity and cyber deterrence. James Miller, former under secretary of defense for policy, now with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, shared his expertise on the subject. Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings senior fellow, interviewed Miller. Following their brief discussion, a panel convened on the subject. Panelists included Sam Jones of Palantir, William Leigher of Raytheon, and Anil Ramcharan of Deloitte.