Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities (2009) / Chapter Skim
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8 Insights from Related Areas
8 Insights from Related Areas
Pages 293-301
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From page 293... ...
In particular, many questions asked regarding nuclear conflict are relevant to cyberattack, even though the answers to these questions will be very different in the two cases. Consider first some important differences.
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From page 294... ...
Although a number of other nations had achieved nuclear capabilities as well, these nations either were allies of the United States (and thus could be presumed to not have hostile intent that might lead to the use of nuclear weapons against it) or were generally incapable of striking the United States.
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From page 295... ...
From an operational perspective, military planners have considered the use of nuclear weapons for both strategic and tactical purposes (though debates rage about the wisdom of using nuclear weapons for tactical purposes)
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From page 296... ...
As noted in Section 6.1.1, U.S. declaratory policy regarding nuclear weapons suggests that the United States could respond to certain kinds of cyberattacks against it with nuclear weapons.
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From page 297... ...
It is helpful to consider biological weapons and cyberweapons with respect to two categories -- characteristics of the weapons themselves, Public opinion and perceptions of these two acts are quite different -- there is little public outcry against the reconnaissance satellites of other nations directed against the United States, but there is a great deal of public outcry against cyberexploitations directed against the United States.
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From page 298... ...
In principle, biological weapons might be tailored to cause disease only in individuals with a certain biological signature, even if it infects others without causing disease. Furthermore, much of society is constructed in ways that enhance the efficacy of biological weapons and cyberweapons. The effectiveness of biological weapons is enhanced by high population densities in urban areas and by poor health care and public health/epidemiological reporting systems; the effectiveness of cyberweapons is enhanced by high dependence on interconnected information technology and a lack of concerted attention to cybersecurity on a societal scale.
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From page 299... ...
A preliminary similarity is the struggle over appropriate terminology regarding non-lethal weapons, a struggle that reprises the analogous issue BOX 8.1 Non-lethal Weapons -- Illustrative Examples Traditional Instruments • Night sticks and truncheons • Water cannons that shoot jets of water at high pressure • Rubber bullets • Tear gas • Pepper spray • Dogs Today's Instruments • Tasers • Flashbangs (which create loud sounds or sudden bursts of light or bad smells) • Projectile netting • Carbon filaments (for use against electrical grids, to short out switching stations)
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From page 300... ...
One policy issue raised by non-lethal weapons involves a seductive quality about them that has the potential of lulling users into a sense of complacency about their use. For example, the New York Times reported on a study by the sheriff's office in Orange County, Florida, in which the officers on patrol were all equipped with tasers and were trained to use them. One immediate effect was that the number of citizen fatalities due to police action decreased dramatically -- the hoped-for effect.
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From page 301... ...
Similar questions have arisen in the context of using smart versus dumb bombs. It can be argued that both morality and the law of armed conflict requires the use of the weapons that are the most discriminating in their ability to minimize collateral damage -- by this argument, a military force would be required to use smart bombs (that is, weapons that can be more accurately aimed)
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