A cyber SIOP? Operational considerations for strategic offensive cyber planning

Abstract

Most discussion to date about offensive cyber operations has focused on the theoretical and strategic rather than operational level of analysis. This mirrors the nuclear age, where critical operational questions were neglected in public discussion until very late in the Cold War. Yet these questions are critical for both nuclear and cyber operations, so analysis that neglects them has little bearing on policy questions. An examination of the planning, targeting, and command and control aspects of offensive cyber operations in the US context provides a starting for a more fruitful assessment of offensive cyber.