Introduction to the special issue on strategic dimensions of offensive cyber operations

Nations around the world recognize cybersecurity as a critical issue for public policy. They are concerned that their adversaries could conduct cyberattacks against their interests—damaging their military forces, their economies, and their political processes. Thus, their cybersecurity efforts have been devoted largely to protecting important information technology systems and networks against such attacks. Recognizing this point, the Oxford Dictionaries added in 2013 a new word to its lexicon—it defined cybersecurity as “the state of being protected against the criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data, or the measures taken to achieve this.” But a nation can also conduct cyberattacks against other nations as deliberate instruments of policy, and many nations around the world are also exploring the use of offensive cyber operations in such a manner. In the USA, such operations have become increasingly prominent in US policy. For example: