Admiral James A. Winnefeld, USN (Ret.), is the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is an advisor to Acalvio Technologies.
In this Help Net Security interview, he compares the strategies of traditional and cyber warfare, discusses the difficulty of determining the attack’s nature, addresses ethical dilemmas, and promotes collaboration and cooperation with allies, partners, and, in some cases, even adversaries.
Admiral Winnefeld, given your vast experience in military strategy and operations, can you shed light on how the principles of traditional warfare can be applied to the emerging cyber warfare domain?
Digital environments are the new battlefield in the 21st century. Cyber warfare and cyber attackers are an ever-present threat, as state-sponsored bad actors and individual cybercriminals alike continue to evolve their tactics. Organizations attempting to strengthen their cybersecurity controls under this mounting pressure will find that traditional and cyber warfare have unexpected similarities and complementary solutions.
To ensure a nation’s protection, as well as the protection of private data held by organizations across the globe, the implementation of robust defensive and offensive strategies is vital. Drawing parallels to the tactics and methods deployed to ward off adversaries on a physical battlefield in order to defend against those on a digital one provides us with a clear path forward.
One specific area of convergence between traditional and cyber warfare tactics is the art of deception. Throughout history, military forces have used deception to confuse and deter attackers by disseminating false and misleading information to throw adversaries off track.
In today’s digital landscape, this tried-and-true tactic has undergone a modern, digital transformation. With the advancement of
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