Hacks, Attacks, and What America Can Do about It
Panelists:
Jason Healey
Senior Fellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security
Atlantic Council;
Senior Research Scholar, School of International and Public Affairs
Columbia University
Catherine Lotrionte
Director of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government and Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Robert Knake
Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations
Moderator:
Siobhan Gorman
Director, Washington DC
Brunswick
Join the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative on August 19 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for a discussion on appropriate responses to recent intrusions into sensitive US government systems, especially the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Two months ago, the OPM discovered the biggest breach of US government data in history, described by many as the long-feared “Cyber 9/11”, exposing sensitive information on millions of Americans. While the Obama administration has refrained from publicly attributing the attack, many officials have privately pointed the finger at China. In July, hackers penetrated the Joint Chiefs of Staff email network in what has been described as the “most sophisticated” cyber breach in the history of the US military. Although the investigation is still underway, suspicion has quickly fallen on Russia. And just days ago, news broke about Chinese cyber spies having had access to the private emails of top US officials since at least 2010.
In light of the unprecedented scale and scope of these recent data breaches, the Obama administration faces difficult questions: Does political cyber espionage warrant retaliation? Would retaliating effectively deter US cyber adversaries? Or would it further escalate the conflict, especially as the United States itself has been caught spying on other nation states?
To answer these questions and suggest a way forward for the US government, this moderated panel discussion brings together recognized cybersecurity and espionage experts Siobhan Gorman, Director at Brunswick’s Washington, DC office; Jason Healey, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; Robert Knake, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow for Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Catherine Lotrionte, Director of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Follow the conversation on Twitter at @ACScowcroft using #ACCyber.