The Cyber Statecraft Initiative works at the nexus of geopolitics, technology, and security to craft strategies to help shape the conduct of statecraft and to better inform and secure users. This work extends through the competition of state and non-state actors, the security of the internet and computing systems, the safety of operational technology and physical systems, and the communities of cyberspace. The Initiative convenes a diverse network of passionate and knowledgeable contributors, bridging the gap among technical, policy, and user communities.

Our work

The Atlantic Council Technology Programs comprises five existing efforts—the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and the Capacity Building Initiative. These operations work together to address the geopolitical implications of technology and provide policymakers and global stakeholders necessary research, insights, and convenings to address challenges around global technology and ensure its responsible advancement.

Team

Fellows

Publications

Buying Down Risk

May 3, 2022

Buying down risk: Software provenance and composition

By Trey Herr, Robert Morgus, Stewart Scott, and Tianjiu Zuo

SBoM adoption is picking up pace, aiming to provide better insight into and contractual leverage for software components—increased investment, standardization, and coordination can help fully develop SBoM use.

Cybersecurity
Technology & Innovation

Buying Down Risk

May 3, 2022

Buying down risk: Cyber poverty line

By Trey Herr, Robert Morgus, Stewart Scott, and Tianjiu Zuo

Many enterprises face systemic challenges to their cybersecurity posture, from resource shortages to suboptimal risk attitudes, all of which weaken an ecosystem only as secure as its weakest links.

Cybersecurity
Technology & Innovation

Buying Down Risk

May 3, 2022

Buying down risk: Cyber liability

By Trey Herr, Robert Morgus, Stewart Scott, and Tianjiu Zuo

Despite software’s ubiquity and omnipresent vulnerability, conventions around liability for software producers are still informal and rarely enforced.

Cybersecurity
Technology & Innovation

Buying Down Risk

May 3, 2022

Buying down risk: Memory safety

By Trey Herr, Robert Morgus, Stewart Scott, and Tianjiu Zuo

Some coding languages, like C and C++, allow for a common, exceptionally dangerous bug called a memory safety error, comprising up to 70 percent of industry vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity
Technology & Innovation

Buying Down Risk

May 3, 2022

Buying down risk in the cyber ecosystem: Arguments for the national cybersecurity strategy

By Trey Herr, Robert Morgus, Stewart Scott, and Tianjiu Zuo

The private sector has enormous influence over the cybersecurity ecosystem. Security investments stemming from enterprise and prioritizing a more resilient environment over reacting to emerging incidents can have massive impact at scale.

Cybersecurity
Technology & Innovation

Conflict, Risk, and Tech

Apr 29, 2022

The 5×5—Addressing the global market for offensive cyber capabilities

By Simon Handler

Five experts unpack the global market for offensive cyber capabilities and the implications associated with the proliferation of hacking tools.

Conflict
Cybersecurity

In-Depth Research & Reports

Apr 18, 2022

America the Unready: Viking Age lessons for ransomware

By Emma Schroeder

“America the Unready: Viking Age lessons for ransomware” explores the rising tide of ransomware and presents three lessons that the US Government can learn from the English Viking Age about combating persistent, distributed threats through strengthening collective resilience and defense.

Cybersecurity

Issue Brief

Mar 30, 2022

Preparing the next phase of US cyber strategy

By Jenny Jun

This paper considers tensions in the current US cyber strategy for the Defense Department and the broader cyber policy community in the Biden-Harris administration as they form the next phase of the strategy and determine how, when, and under what conditions Defend Forward can best serve as a means to the goal of achieving superiority in cyberspace.

Cybersecurity

The 5×5

Mar 21, 2022

The 5×5—Russia’s cyber statecraft

By Simon Handler

Five experts share their perspectives on what recent cyber developments related to Russia’s war in Ukraine indicate about Russian cyber behavior.

Belarus
Conflict

In-Depth Research & Reports

Mar 14, 2022

Targeting Ukraine through Washington: Russian election interference, Ukraine, and the 2024 US election 

By Gavin Wilde and Justin Sherman

US officials should recognize that Ukraine’s trajectory has always been a centerpiece of Russian interference in US elections. Doing so should guide US policymakers’ observations of what is happening now in Ukraine—and their preparations for what promises to be a climactic 2024 US election cycle.

Cybersecurity
Disinformation

Events


The Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, part of the Atlantic Council Technology Programs, works at the nexus of geopolitics and cybersecurity to craft strategies to help shape the conduct of statecraft and to better inform and secure users of technology.

Licensing CSI Graphics

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