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Stuxnet and the Limits of Cyber Warfare

Abstract: 
In this article, Jon Lindsay provides a focused analysis of the Stuxnet attack of 2010 to test, and ultimately, counter the widely held cyber revolution thesis that the Internet provides anonymous, weaker actors asymmetric advantages over the defensive infrastructure of more powerful institutions. Lindsay argues the Stuxnet test case shows weaker actors must overcome nearly insurmountable barriers to weaponization in order to make a notable impact, and in doing so, open themselves up to massive retaliation by resource-rich states. The article concludes by asserting the cyber revolution is not likely to occur, due in part to the realities of the Stuxnet attacks and the continued strategic and technical complexities of the cyberspace domain.
Author: 
Jon R. Lindsay
Institution: 
Journal of Security Studies
Year: 
2013
Domains-Issue Area: 
Region(s): 
Industry Focus: 
Information & Telecommunication
Internet & Cyberspace
Datatype(s): 
Theory/Definition