Information and Communications Technologies, Cyberattacks, and Strategic Asymmetry

Abstract

In the history of warfare, there are a number of examples of strategic uses of asymmetric technologies. Consistent with history and theory, individuals, organizations, and nations have spotted opportunities to employ information and communications technologies to gain and exploit asymmetric advantages and to counter asymmetric weaknesses. This chapter discusses various asymmetries associated with institutions, nations, and organizations that influence the ICT-security nexus. Regulative, normative, and cognitive institutions in a country provide various mechanisms that affect the nature of positive and negative asymmetries. Nations and organizations also differ in terms of their capability to assimilate ICT tools to gain positive asymmetries and deal with vulnerabilities of negative asymmetries.