Offensive cyber.

A few months ago I took part in a round table during the CyberDefence and Network Security Forum (CDANS 2013) in London. My good friend Bill Hagestad II offered me the challenge to participate alongside very distinguished figures in the field. The topic, he briefly told me, was “Offensive cyber operations”.

There was a vivid discussion on the need to actively engage the adversaries in cyberspace for the better part of one hour. Bill finally asked whether we thought offensive capabilities should be used. My answer that day was not a much elaborated one. A simple: “yes”.

Bill is a former USMC Lieutenant Colonel (what do they feed USMC and our Infantería de Marina that they are so bright?). I, myself, am active Spanish Air Force. It did not seem obvious to me at that time that I needed to further explain why you need to be offensive in cyberspace. It is something that I gave for granted.

Air Forces do not “stand their ground”. There is no “ground” to stand up there. Even when you are in a defensive posture you take off with an offensive mindset. You go up there to engage the enemy and you do not sit idly waiting for him to attack you. “Sitting ducks” are perfect targets for active users of Air Power. In fact, the technological race in the aeronautical military industry has always –at least until very recently– been about speed. Faster was better.

So, for aviators, it is only natural that you do not wait and see if you can resist attacks in cyberspace either. Take, for example, the bombing missions in WWII. Attackers could afford to miss their target once and again as long as they did not lose the initiative. Defenders, on the other hand, could not allow the attacker to be successful even once.

With the increase in speed, aircraft could reiterate the attacks even more frequently and, therefore, pose an even bigger threat to the “duck”. At an infinite speed, attacks would go on without pause until the target was beaten.

Cyberspace offers something very close to infinite speed. You can run but you can hardly hide. You do not outlast your attackers, you outmaneuver them, outsmart them or, which is the same, outrun them.

Still, the real value and threat in cyberspace is its ability to shape ideas. It is information –therefore, ideas– what travel through the web. You shape those ideas or someone else will; you either exert influence or only receive it.

If you are going to be a player in cyberspace you cannot simply “pass”, you have got to bet.