Cyber as Deterrent

Abstract

“Cyber as Deterrent” authored by Maurizio Martellini and Sandro Gaycken, is a state-of-the-art document on the deterrence power of cyber attacks. It is divided in five parts: the first explains some characteristics relevant to understand the specifics of cybered deterrence; the second one explores possible doctrines of cybered deterrence and their effects; the third one will determine relevant features for the design of a force posture; the fourth analyses the dilemmas stemming from the uncertainty of attribution of an attack, that’s to say escalating or refrain from continuing the counterattack; the fifth part compares cybered deterrence and nuclear deterrence, concluding that the basic benchmarks underpinning nuclear deterrence are not effective for cyber warfare, and that “cyber as a deterrent” doesn’t seem like a valid tool in comparable situations of serious crisis among states.