Editor's Note: The Pentagram publishes work by published writer and JBM-HH Commander Col. Patrick Duggan. This is the first in a two-part series of an article written by Duggan (special contributions made by Elizabeth Oren). The original has been edited for Pentagram style and use. It is reprinted with permission from Cyber Defense Review, a professional forum for current and emerging research on cyber operation. The content of this article applies to the recent National Defense University- and U. S. Army Special Operations Center of Excellence-hosted Project Gray "Russian Engagement in the Gray Zone" symposium. At the end of each article, a link to the full article will be provided.
Cyberspace is a human space, as dynamic and uncertain as human nature. No longer simply a technical abstraction or man made domain unto itself, [1] cyberspace is a growing facet of everyday life that increasingly cuts across all aspects of Special Operations. Cyber is a dynamic space, a global commons of human practice which embodies the actions, behaviors and decisions of man.
Cyber is also an uncertain space; and although its future impact to our national security is yet to be determined, it is clearly a space where United States Special Operations Forces (USSOF) have an increasing role in shaping the final outcome. Ultimately, cyber is a human enterprise which empowers and entangles countless global interactions, [2] and is rapidly becoming a preeminent space where human conflicts, and thus USSOF, must play a part.
The enigma of cyberspace is in its contradictions.
Cyber is both everywhere and nowhere at the same time, casting an invisible, yet powerful influence, bringing both comfort and stress to everyday life. On one hand, cyberspace helps foster human prosperity by flattening opportunities and improving quality of life. On the other hand, cyberspace inflames ethnic and religious tensions, sows dissent and causes suffering.
It is in these contradictions where cyberspace is most like human nature, and in these same spaces, both challenges and opportunities exist for USSOF.
Cloaking their roles and obscuring their actions, adversaries are increasingly exploiting the shadows of cyberspace to attack U.S. national security interests. Ranging from lone cyber-terrorists to state-sponsored cyber units, adversaries use cyberspace's low barriers of entry, difficult attribution and lack of clear borders for battle [3] to conceal their reckless ambitions.
Fortunately, while adversaries may exploit cyber to strike from the shadows, it is in these same shadows USSOF must pursue to help illuminate, uncover and counter the growing array of technologically-savvy threats plaguing our nation.
The Commander of the United States Cyber Command and Director of the National Security Agency, Admiral Mike Rogers, recently wrote that "No single entity has all the necessary insight, authorities, capabilities or resources to protect and defend U.S. and allied interests in cyberspace," [4] and I couldn't agree with him more. Cyberspace is not just an intelligence or communications thing; it is an "everybody thing." This includes the way in which we marshal the talent and intellect of our military and interagency and private sector leaders to build whole-of-nation strategies to protect the U.S.
The ubiquity of cyberspace means that no single U.S. agency, department or service component owns the market on good ideas, so it is imperative that we harness our country's diverse experience among all institutions to promote ever-adaptive strategies which secure our nation.
We must also seek and examine new concepts, processes and approaches to deal with these dynamic challenges, and each does our individual part in a collective contribution to our national defense.
Part of SOF's contribution to confronting our nation's cyberspace problems, is asking ourselves how to best harness our own strategic strengths and do it in a manner which best navigates cyber's dynamic and uncertain human nature.
SOF's strategic value for the nation is in its unique small footprint, exercised through a global network of partners, providing persistent engagement and partner enabling, as well as, discreet and rapid response. These same strategic strengths provide new unconventional opportunities and asymmetric options that must be further developed and integrated into our national cyber-strategies.
Whether conducting virtual Foreign Internal Defense (FID) to build partner security and capacity or executing cyber-enabled Direct Action (DA) to eliminate hostile threats, cyberspace amplifies "the elemental aspects of what makes a special operation, special." [5]
Meaning, cyberspace amplifies a DA mission's lethality, precision and discreet nature; while in FID's case, cyberspace amplifies connectivity, capability and trust. [6]
It is increasingly clear that every USSOF mission must be amplified by cyber so that we can evolve our strengths into new strategic instruments to protect and project our national interests.
Next week: Special Operations Forces are dynamic. USSOF will employ cyberspace as a means to better understand the passions which drive human action and behavior and will use cyberspace as a vehicle to identify conflicts earlier, seize opportunities to steer, and potentially, tamp down violence.
See the full article here: www.cyberdefensereview.org/2016/10/13/special-operations-forces-in-cyberspace.
References --
1. Patrick Duggan, "Harnessing Cyber-technology's Human Potential," Special Warfare 28, no.4 (October-December 2015), 12. www.soc.mil/swcs/SWmag/archive/SW2804/October2015SpecialWarfare.pdf (accessed February 25, 2016).
2. Patrick Duggan, "Why Special Operations Forces in US Cyber-Warfare?" Cyber Defense Review, January 8, 2016, 1.
www.cyberdefensereview.org/2016/01/08/why-special-operations-forces-in-us-cyber-warfare/ (accessed February 22, 2016).
3. Ibid., 3.
4. Michael S. Rogers, "A Challenge for the Military Cyber Workforce," Military Cyber Affairs: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 2. (2015), 1. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012d20b6a44624053b49ac722398d5b77baeeed9b86ea04cae92af2b74eb8c7d62e779b8d182b0cff710302326e31e2b3a56ccb2d05e04c50448a74c475ac75815econtext=mca (accessed March 2, 2016).
5. Patrick Duggan, "Man, Computer and Special Warfare," Smallwarsjournal.com, January 4, 2016, 4. http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/man-computer-and-special-warfare (accessed February 22, 2016).
6. Ibid., 4.
Social Sharing