Final Paper

Cyber Weapons Proliferation

Name:

Date: 03-30-2021

TOPIC: CYBER WEAPON PROLIFERATION

Currently there is no widely accepted definition on the concept of cyber weapon, but it can be described as a tool which has been modified for the purpose of carrying out malicious threats or attacks in the cyber space.

The use of Cyber space as a weapon is gradually gaining recognition, to the extent that it is currently been considered a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

In the US. For Instance, the Department of Homeland Security is tasked with the responsibility of protecting its citizens against any form of threat including cyber-attacks. The US has traditionally been perceived to be the world's most dominant cyber force in terms of this kind. Both their capabilities (defensive and offensive) have been actively developed over the last two decades, and appear to be superior to others. In order to strengthen U.S. space defense, the United States Cyber Command (US CYBER) was established in 2010 to ensure freedom of action in cyberspace for the US government and its allies, but prevent adversaries from doing the same.

The three service elements that comprise USCYBER are the Army Cybercom, the Air Force Cybercom, and the Fleet Cybercom. In August 2017 the United States Cyber Command was elevated to the status of a Unified Combatant Command. The National Defense Strategy for 2018 stated that the US government will prioritize the integration of cyber capabilities into the full spectrum of military operations.[footnoteRef:1] [1: Cristian Barbieri, Jean-Pierre Darnis & Carolina Polito “Non-proliferation Regime for Cyber Weapons. A Tentative Study” http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai1803.pdf accessed March 30th, 2021]

The proliferations in weaponisation of cyber space by terrorist groups to carry out destructive threats have necessitated the need for in depth analysis on the regulation of the use of cyber space.

In conclusion, although clearly resembling weapons, others say cyberspace might have a different potential to do great harm without actually inflicting financial or human loss, often cyber weapons may be used as less dangerous "conventional" weapons and canolays.

However, due to the fast pace of cyber-related technological developments, leadership changes, senior defense officials must be up to speed with how these technologies impact national security and defense mechanisms so they can have updated or revisions to the current laws regulating cyber usage.

Furthermore, it is suggested that in other to combat the use of cyber space as a weapon, one has to disable the source of the threat in order to neutralize the "cyber weapon" used to attack a target, thereby rendering them ineffective.

In my opinion, limited reliance on cyber space is recommended to effectively combat cyber space terrorism.