Timely Commentary & Analysis

Notes from the field and analysis from the Cyber Statecraft Initiative team—insights to give you practical leverage on the complex challenges of cybersecurity.

Featured commentary and analysis

Timely Commentary & Analysis

Capacity Building Initiative Jan 13, 2020

Cyber 9/12: Education and innovation on a global scale

By Will Loomis

One of the most important barriers to robust global cybersecurity is the shortage of capable individuals in the workforce pipeline. By 2021, predictions suggest that the world will have more than 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs, with both the private and public sectors facing hiring shortages. While the United States has budding international relations, cybersecurity, and IT-focused academic programs, very little has been done to address the interaction between them, which will be crucial for the success of future cybersecurity professionals.
Cybersecurity
Timely Commentary & Analysis

Conflict, Risk, and Tech Oct 28, 2019

The zero-day war? How cyber is reshaping the future of the most combustible conflicts

By Simon Handler

Conventional wisdom would suggest that scaled-up capabilities, growing competition, and the proliferation of malware across cyberspace presents a legitimate risk of escalation in state conflict, transcending the cyber domain toward the kinetic. However, recent history has shown that states have more often availed themselves of their offensive cyber arsenals to achieve surprisingly de-escalatory effects.
Cybersecurity Iran
Timely Commentary & Analysis

New Atlanticist Oct 9, 2019

How governments can use cyber tools irresponsibly to preserve power

By Safa Shahwan

The Kazakh case serves as an example of irresponsible cyber statecraft, when governments use cyberspace and technological tools to achieve specific political goals, placing the rights of citizens, as well as their political legitimacy, on the line.

Central Asia Cybersecurity

All timely commentary & analysis

Cyber Risk Wednesdays

Feb 20, 2015

Cyber Risk Wednesday: Breaking the info-sharing logjam

By Brent Scowcroft Center

At the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Risk Wednesday, White House cybersecurity czar Michael Daniel said effective cybersecurity information sharing hinges on new relationships between Washington and the private sector. On the heels of President Obama’s executive order to promote information sharing between federal agencies and businesses worried about hackers, the White House cybersecurity czar said the […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

Jan 29, 2015

Moving from Bad to Worse? Looking Back to 2014 and Implications for 2015

By Cyber Statecraft Initiative

On January 21 the Cyber Statecraft Initiative kicked off the 2015 Cyber Risk Wednesday event series with the new exclusive media partner for the series, Passcode, the new outlet of Christian Science Monitor. Shane Harris, senior intelligence and national security correspondent for The Daily Beast, and Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder & chief technology officer of CrowdStrike, […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

Nov 6, 2014

NATO’s Cyber Defense Mission and Capabilities

By Atlantic Council

On November 5, the Atlantic Council hosted a discussion on NATO's new enhanced cyber defense policy, the organization's cyber mission and capabilities, as well as where the role of the private sector fits into the equation.

Cybersecurity NATO

Cyber Risk Wednesdays

Oct 24, 2014

Cyber Risk Wednesday: Landscape of the cyber threat

By Atlantic Council

On October 22, the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative relaunched Cyber Risk Wednesdays, a series of events dedicated to a deeper discussion and understanding of solutions to systemic cyber risks. {soundcloud} https://soundcloud.com/atlanticcouncil/cyber-risk-wednesday-landscape-of-the-cyber-threat {/soundcloud}The first event in the series marked National Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a moderated discussion on the current cyber threat environment with Dmitri Alperovitch, […]

Cybersecurity

Event Recap

Oct 20, 2014

Online Voting: Rewards and Risks

By Atlantic Council

On October 8, 2014, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative hosted a panel of experts to discuss how online voting and e-voting could become a larger part of the political process in the United States and in other participatory democracies with the right security to back it up.

Article

Sep 3, 2014

Building a Pluralist Future for the Internet

By Alexander Klimburg

This Week’s Internet Conference in Istanbul Follows an Historic Debate at Brazil’s NETmundial  “History,” John W. Gardner reputedly said, “never looks like history when you are living through it.” Maybe that is why one of the recent years’ biggest events in shaping the future of the Internet got so little attention recently. Global news media […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

Aug 25, 2014

Jason Healey Speaks at Two Hackers Conferences

Imagine that twenty years after Johannes Gutenberg invented mechanical movable type, the Pope and the petty princes – in fact, anyone who tried hard enough – had the ability to determine exactly who was printing exactly what. Worrying about intellectual property theft, privacy or civil rights violations, had those concepts existed, would be missing the […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

Jun 9, 2014

National Security and Digital prosperity after Snowden: A discussion with David Ignatius.

Edward Snowden’s revelations of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) extensive data collection programs last year sparked an intense debate on the future of electronic surveillance in the United States and globally. As the extent of electronic surveillance has moved to the forefront of the American political discourse, the effects of Snowden’s revelations on the future […]

Cybersecurity National Security

Event Recap

Apr 16, 2014

Beyond data breaches: Global interconnections of cyber risk

By Atlantic Council

Released on April 16, Beyond Data Breaches: Global Interconnections of Cyber Risk, is a year-long study by the Atlantic Council and Zurich Insurance Group that analyzes interrelated cyber hazards and underlying risks, suggesting ways to better prepare governments and businesses for the cyber shocks of the future.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Event Recap

Mar 25, 2014

NATO advanced research workshop on confidence building in cyberspace

NATO advanced research workshop on “Confidence-Building in Cyberspace ” was hosted by the Swedish Institute for National Defense and Security Policy Studies, the Swedish National Defense College, and the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative March 25 – 27, 2014. The event was supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) which seeks […]

Cybersecurity NATO
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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.

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