Introduction
This week, the Department of Defense (DoD) delivered its highly anticipated classified 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy to Congress. This comprehensive strategy outlines the Department’s approach to operating in and through cyberspace, with the aim of safeguarding the American people and advancing the defense priorities of the United States. The strategy builds upon previous initiatives, complements national cybersecurity efforts, and draws on real-world experiences to address the evolving challenges of the cyber domain.
A Foundation in Real-World Experience
The 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy is grounded in the Department’s real-world experiences and developments since the release of the 2018 DoD Cyber Strategy. Over the past few years, the DoD has actively engaged in significant cyberspace operations, employing a defensive approach to disrupt malicious cyber activities before they can impact the U.S. Homeland. These experiences, coupled with Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which highlighted the use of cyber capabilities in large-scale conventional conflicts, have greatly influenced the Department’s approach to the cyber domain.
Key Tenets of the 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy
The 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy is built upon three fundamental tenets that form the basis of the Department’s approach to the cyber domain:
- Integrated Deterrence: The Department recognises the need to maximise its cyber capabilities in support of integrated deterrence. This involves leveraging cyberspace operations alongside other instruments of national power to deter adversaries effectively.
- Campaigning Below the Level of Armed Conflict: The DoD will engage in cyberspace campaigns below the threshold of armed conflict. This approach reinforces deterrence efforts and frustrates adversaries by disrupting their activities and undermining their capabilities.
- Protecting and Strengthening Alliances: Acknowledging the importance of global alliances and partnerships, the Department emphasises the need to protect and reinforce the United States’ global network of allies and partners in the cyber domain.
Emerging Cyber Threats and Challenges
The Department acknowledges the increasingly contested nature of cyberspace and identifies several key adversaries and challenges:
- People’s Republic of China (PRC): The PRC is considered the Department’s pacing challenge in the cyber domain. Its significant investments in military cyber capabilities and support for proxy organisations engaged in malicious cyber activities against the United States pose a serious threat.
- Russia: Russia poses an acute threat in cyberspace, as evidenced by its malign influence efforts against the United States and repeated cyber attacks on Ukrainian civilian critical infrastructure.
- North Korea, Iran, and Violent Extremist Organizations: These actors continue to pose persistent cyber threats to the United States.
- Transnational Criminal Organizations: Due to their technical aptitude and alignment with the foreign policy objectives of their host governments, transnational criminal organisations represent a unique challenge in cyberspace.
Four Complementary Lines of Effort
To effectively address current and future cyber threats, the DoD has defined four complementary lines of effort in its strategy:
- Defend the Nation: The Department will conduct cyberspace campaigns to gain insights into malicious cyber actors, defend forward to disrupt their capabilities, and work with interagency partners to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure and counter threats to military readiness.
- Prepare to Fight and Win the Nation’s Wars: The DoD will prioritize cybersecurity within the DoD Information Network and invest in the cyber resilience of the Joint Force. Additionally, cyberspace operations will be used to generate asymmetric advantages to support the Joint Force’s plans and operations.
- Protect the Cyber Domain with Allies and Partners: The Department will assist U.S. allies and partners in building their cyber capacity and capability, foster cyber cooperation, conduct hunt forward operations to enhance cyber resiliency, and encourage responsible state behavior in accordance with international law and recognised cyberspace norms.
- Build Enduring Advantages in Cyberspace: The DoD will optimise the organization, training, and equipping of its cyber operations forces and invest in intelligence, science and technology, cybersecurity, and cultural aspects to enable effective cyberspace operations.
Conclusion
With the release of the 2023 DoD Cyber Strategy, the Department of Defense is reaffirming its commitment to protect the American people and advance the defence priorities of the United States in an increasingly contested cyberspace. By leveraging real-world experiences, responding to emerging threats, and working in collaboration with allies and partners, the DoD aims to deter conflicts where possible and achieve victory when necessary in the cyber domain.