This year, acknowledging the growing threat of digital attacks on American infrastructure and networks, the Defense Department announced its first strategy for cyber warfare. Introducing the new document in July, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III stated that under this plan, “the Defense Department is treating cyberspace as an operational domain, like land, air, sea, and space.” Kurt Bertone, vice president at Fidelis Security Systems, explains, “Designating cyberspace an operational domain allows them to do things preemptively, such as organizing, training, and investing [for cyber war], just as they would for an air war.”
The new strategy harkens back to the 1999 National Space Policy, which similarly declared outer space “a medium like land, sea, and air.” What is missing, at least from the unclassified version of the document, is a clear statement that the United States has the right to retaliate against attacks with offensive capabilities.
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