Limiting the undesired impact of cyber weapons: technical requirements and policy implications

This paper focuses on the implications of targeted cyber attacks, both from technical and policy standpoints. The variables that enable a targeted cyber attack are analyzed to highlight possible constraints on cyber weapons that enable them to be targetable. The technical design of cyber weapons plays a role in the level of precision available to the weapon. Intelligence is a key variable that dictates whether or not a cyber weapon can be precise as intelligence lends knowledge of the specific target environment. Accidental damage is a key issue that must be avoided to classify a weapon as precise in the cyber domain, generally meaning that the weapon will not impact other computers. This leads into the implications of imprecise targeting of cyber weapons. Without precision, the proliferation of a cyber weapon becomes much more difficult as it makes the weapon traceable. Proliferation of cyber weapons gives value to nonproliferation techniques to prevent the reuse and repurposing of cyber weapons. This leads to nonproliferation efforts being managed by the attacker in some cases and the victim in other cases. The paper concludes by offering key considerations in the deployment and defense of cyber weapons through both technical and policy perspectives.