State Actors' Offensive Cyberoperations: The Disruptive Power of Systematic Cyberattacks

During the last few years, several nation states have entered cyberspace in an attempt to use the Internet for policy, geopolitical, and state gains. Using development of the battle tank as an analogy, the authors explore the militarization of the Internet and how the ability to think beyond the existing cybersecurity paradigm has led to new cyberweapons and the need for new defensive strategies. The existing paradigm says that cyberspace is becoming more secure; the entrance of state actors reverses this trajectory, making cyberspace less secure and heavily contested.