The militarisation of cyberspace: Why less may be better

Abstract

Cyber security is seen as one of the most pressing national security issues of our time. Due to sophisticated and highly publicised cyber attacks, it is increasingly framed as a strategic-military concern and many states have or at least want to acquire offensive cyber “weapons”. The aim of this paper is to show that particular ways of framing threats are not only a matter of choice but also come with political and social effects. Focusing on the strategic-military aspects of cyber security means subjecting it to the rules of an antagonistic zero-sum game, in which one party's gain is another party's loss. This invokes enemy images even though there is no identifiable enemy, centres too strongly on national security measures instead of economic and business solutions, and wrongly suggests that states can establish control over cyberspace. This creates an unnecessary atmosphere of insecurity and tension in the international system - one that is based on misperceptions of the nature and level of cyber risk and on the feasibility of different protection measures in a world characterised by complex, interdependent risk. While it is undisputed that the cyber dimension will play a substantial role in future conflicts of all grades and shades, threat-representations must remain well informed and well balanced at all times in order to rule out policy (over-) reactions with unnecessary costs and uncertain benefits.