 Cyber Conflict Module 2 Understanding a New Domain Once you have completed the readings, lecture, activity, and assessment, you will be able to articulate the circumstances surrounding why the NSA was given sole control of computer-based intelligence operations. Describe the effect that the United States' quick victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War had on Chinese strategic military planners. Welcome to Module 2 of Cyber Conflict. In the first module, we looked at the early days of computer and cybersecurity. In this lecture, we will look at the progress of technologies in the 1980s and 1990s. By the early 1980s, both the U.S. military and many corporations in the country were using computer technology on an increasing level to support their operations. The U.S. Department of Defense's strategic command was relying heavily on computers for its nuclear weapons mission, specifically with regard to operating advanced guidance systems and potentially tracking incoming enemy missiles. Computers were still expensive mainframe systems, and few government officials, including senior policymakers, were at all familiar with them. Hollywood was left to introduce the potential uses and vulnerabilities of the new technology to the public and even to the Oval Office. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan viewed the motion picture war games about a young hacker who accesses a military supercomputer and nearly begins a war. Though the hacker initially believes that he is playing a benign computer game, the supercomputer is, in fact, part of a nuclear weapons control system, and a situation erupts that nearly results in World War 3. After viewing the movie, President Reagan asked an advisor to research whether a scenario could actually occur. Months later, a senior military advisor reported to Reagan that many of our important military computer systems did indeed lack sufficient protections. In response, Reagan initiated a review, culminating in National Security Decision Directive number 145, the National Policy on Telecommunications and Automated Information Systems Security. NSDD 145 was seminal in highlighting how vulnerable our computer systems were to unauthorized intrusions and nation-state espionage. The directive became the first such high-level policy document to address what is now known as cyber warfare. NSDD 145 was also significant in giving the National Security Agency responsibility for securing the computer networks of the United States. By the beginning of the First Gulf War in January 1991, computers were ubiquitous in all aspects of U.S. military operations. Computers supported smart bombs, satellite communications, advanced avionics, and sophisticated target tracking systems were all on full display during that war, and initiated net-centric warfare. Net-centric warfare essentially refers to the ability to network sensors and communication systems so that situational awareness of military commanders and other strategic decision makers is enhanced. Robust situational awareness helps commanders increase targeting precision and improve the military's overall unity of effort. Both China and Russia were caught off guard by the United States' sophisticated computer-enabled military operations and were awed by our quick victory over Iraq. China, in particular, was especially concerned with the United States' new ability to wage high-tech war, particularly because China's military relied on more primitive technology, similar to Iraq's. As a result, both China and Russia initiated long-range strategic development programs to upgrade their military capabilities, with the goal of creating their own net-centric militaries. Even as it ramped up technologies, however, China believed that the United States had become over-reliant on technology and began research on how to asymmetrically exploit and disrupt this over-reliance. As William Lynn wrote in the article defending a new domain in the journal Foreign Affairs, cyber warfare is asymmetric. The low cost of computing devices means that U.S. adversaries do not have to build expensive weapons. A dozen determined computer programmers can, if they find a vulnerability to exploit, threaten the United States' global logistics network, steal its operational plans, blind its intelligence capabilities, or hinder its ability to deliver weapons on target. Since the first Gulf War, many of our adversaries have exponentially increased both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. The United States advantage in technology over the last three decades has rapidly diminished, and we now struggle to out-innovate our foes. The next module will highlight today's strategic situation with respect to cyber technology, and we will touch on a philosophical argument about whether cyber warfare can even occur. Quiz question one, true or false? National Security Decision Directive 145 resulted in the NSA's gaining the mission of protecting the U.S. government's computer networks. The answer is true. Quiz question two, which of the following are assessments made by Chinese strategic planners regarding the United States' quick victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War? Note, two of the following answers are correct. A, China should confront technologically superior U.S. forces with asymmetric means. B, China should create plans to incorporate information technology into its armed forces. C, China should not attempt to reach technological parity with the U.S. forces. D, China should avoid incorporating information technology into its armed forces. Answer, A, China should confront technologically superior U.S. forces with asymmetric means. And answer, B, China should create plans to incorporate information technology into its armed forces. Are both correct? The activity for this module asks that you download and read President Reagan's National Security Decision Directive 145. In approximately one page, reflect on how the technology was described in the document. In what ways does the directive seem prescient given our world today?