By Gavin Wilde
As the prospects to preempt renewed Russian aggression in Europe have dimmed in recent weeks, the Biden administration has taken a flurry of steps to ensure that U.S. financial and critical infrastructure operators—the majority private sector—are steeled for what is likely to be a new phase of unconstrained Russian cyber activity against American and allied interests. U.S. officials’ emphasis on concrete, actionable steps to bolster digital defenses are particularly needed, as prospective Russian cyber operations simultaneously stretch across, and deviate from, abstract notions about how conventional warfare escalates.
Cyber operations can serve as prelude, accelerant, trigger, accompaniment, or offramp to conventional inter-state armed conflict, as Columbia University’s Jason Healey and the late Robert Jervis have outlined. They are certain to be part of Moscow’s response to a post-invasion sanctions regime. Where they currently fall within that schema is a conceptual puzzle for policymakers and military thinkers—one no less challenging for C-Suites and front-line workers servicing critical industries and functions. How should private-sector stakeholders grapple with such an acute yet abstract threat?
This piece was originally published in Barron’s on February 23, 2022. Read more HERE.