Leveraging Information as Power: America’s Pursuit of Cyber Security

Acquiring and exploiting information is key to remaining competitive in cyberspace. Security seesaws between informational advantage and vulnerability and America, as all other cyber-powers, must consistently tip the seesaw towards the former. Optimally managing the short term vulnerabilities of a cyber advantage will best produce a long-term net gain in security for the US. The Internet’s lax architecture favours offensive over defensive information seeking. Finding and buying zero-days supplements America’s security innovations to maintain a deployable cyber arsenal. Cyber deterrence is problematic so America relies on resilience to manage cyber attacks. Defence through attack absorption offers a better strategy than deterrence per se. Strategically sharing capabilities enables the United States to influence Five Eyes intelligence priorities while enabling its global cyber operations. Amassing an information advantage thus enables America to leverage information as power to enhance its net security posture.