For the Common Defense of Cyberspace: Implications of a US Cyber Militia on Department of Defense Cyber Operations.

摘要

This work examines the current cyber space threat against the US, the current gaps in combating it, and how a US cyber militia might fill those gaps. Militias have historically been used by the US as an emergency measure to protect national security and to defend the homeland in lieu of a regular standing force. Currently, there are cyber militias being utilized worldwide to do just that, but along virtual borders vice land, sea, air and space. Countries such as Estonia and India have combated State and Non-State actors successfully with all-volunteer cyber militias performing an array of tasks in the common defense of their cyber domain. The research compares the organizational structure, mission, formative strategic context, and noteable actions of six volunteer cyber organizations through a qualitative case study analysis. Coupled with an extensive literature review, this study examines possible implications of a US cyber militia on US cyberspace security. The focus of the conclusions and recommendations are on the short and long term impacts a cyber militia could have on US defense operations.