Cyberwarfare: Information Operations in a Connected World, 2nd Edition

Blurred Boundaries: Cyberwar and Nonstate Actors

In conventional kinetic warfare, it is sometimes hard for defenders to determine an attacker’s identity. In cyberwarfare, it can be almost impossible to determine the attacker—if that attacker is careful to use systems that cannot be linked back to him or her and if he or she removes identifying features from the tools and methods used. As the attack methods and advanced exploit tools and techniques used by nation-states have become available to cybercriminals, insurrectionists, and individuals, it has become increasingly difficult to determine if an aggressor is a traditional nation-state opponent or a group that doesn’t abide by the traditional and accepted rules of war.

Nation-states may be ...