Anti-War and the Cyber Triangle Strategic Implications of Cyber Operations and Cyber Security for the State Sven Herpig ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank my loving wife – source of inspiration, firmest believer and harshest critic. For without her, this research would have never progressed beyond the first few paragraphs. I am deeply grateful for having an amazing family. Their tireless encouragement and support allowed me to pursue my dreams. During the years of research, I was not able to spend as much time with them as I would have wanted, and only a tiny fraction of what they would have deserved. I would also like to acknowledge Doctor David Lonsdale, brilliant academic and amazing supervisor, without whom this work would have remained a body without soul. Last but not least, I want to give a shout-out to all the infosec people, cyber libertarians, strategists, hackers, academics and practitioners who helped me with their immense knowledge and vast networks over the last couple of years. Sven Herpig, January 2016 ____________________________ PhD Thesis, University of Hull Research: May 2011–March 2015 Approval: August 2015 Editing: January 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... 11 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 13 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 13 1.1 Introduction of the Subject ................................................................................ 13 1.2 Review of the Related Literature ....................................................................... 16 1.2.1 Development of the Literature ................................................................... 16 1.2.2 Schools of Thought .................................................................................... 19 1.2.3 Contribution ............................................................................................... 23 1.3 Methodological Approach ................................................................................. 25 1.4 Structure of the Chapters ................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER I ............................................................................................................... 30 2. Cyber Domain ........................................................................................................ 30 2.1 The State ............................................................................................................ 30 2.2 The Internet ....................................................................................................... 30 2.2.1 The Interconnected Network ...................................................................... 33 2.2.2 Internet, Cyberspace and Cyber Domain .................................................... 35 2.2.3 Critical National Information Infrastructure .............................................. 37 CHAPTER II .............................................................................................................. 43 3. Cyber Operations ................................................................................................... 43 3.1 Defining Cyber Operations ................................................................................ 43 3.2 Levelling the Cyber Playing Field ..................................................................... 50 3.3 Cyber Armoury .................................................................................................. 56 3.3.1 Remarks ..................................................................................................... 56 3.3.2 Cyber Weapons .......................................................................................... 57 3.3.3 Cyber Attack Vectors ................................................................................. 60 3.3.4 Cyber Armours ........................................................................................... 63 3.4 Facets of Operations .......................................................................................... 66 2 3.4.1 Framework ................................................................................................. 66 3.4.2 Deception Operations ................................................................................. 68 3.4.3 Denial Operations ....................................................................................... 69 3.4.4 Extraction Operations ................................................................................. 69 3.4.5 Disruption Operations ................................................................................ 70 3.4.6 Degradation Operations .............................................................................. 71 3.5 History of Cyber Operations .............................................................................. 72 3.5.1 Timeline of Events ..................................................................................... 72 3.5.2 Early Developments of Cyber Operations .................................................. 73 3.5.3 Evolution of Cyber Operations ................................................................... 76 4. Information Operations ......................................................................................... 78 4.1 Framework ......................................................................................................... 78 4.2 Nature of Information Operations ..................................................................... 78 4.3 Under the Umbrella of Information Operations................................................. 80 4.4 Cyber, Electronic and Network Warfare ........................................................... 81 4.5 Demarcation Lines ............................................................................................. 83 CHAPTER III ............................................................................................................ 86 5. Cyber Security ........................................................................................................ 86 5.1 National Security ............................................................................................... 86 5.2 National Cyber Security .................................................................................... 91 5.3 The Pillars of National Cyber Security .............................................................. 93 5.4 Cyber Security Approaches ............................................................................... 95 5.5 Cyber Security Behaviour ............................................................................... 102 5.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 106 6. Case Study: China's National Cyber Security ................................................... 108 6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 108 6.2 Mapping China's Cyber Security Pillars .......................................................... 109 6.3 Identifying China's Cyber Security Approaches .............................................. 115 6.4 China's Cyber Security Behaviour ................................................................... 119 CHAPTER IV .......................................................................................................... 122 3 7. A Conceptual Framework for Cyber Strategy .................................................. 122 7.1 What is Strategy .............................................................................................. 122 7.1.1 Framework and Strategy .......................................................................... 122 7.1.2 The Strategic-, Political-, Operational- and Tactical Level ...................... 123 7.1.3 Dimensions and Complexity of Strategy .................................................. 125 7.1.4 Definition of Strategy ............................................................................... 129 7.2 Adaptation to Cyber Strategy .......................................................................... 130 7.2.1 The Cyber Political Level ........................................................................ 130 7.2.2 The Cyber Strategy Level ........................................................................ 132 7.2.3 The Cyber Strategic Dimensions .............................................................. 133 7.2.4 The Cyber Operational Level ................................................................... 148 7.2.5 The Cyber Tactical Level ......................................................................... 151 7.2.6 The Cyber Complexity ............................................................................. 153 7.3 Cyber Operations – Strategy in the Fifth Dimension ....................................... 155 7.4 Cyber Strategies and Implications ................................................................... 158 7.4.1 State-of-the-Art and Framework