Cyber Warfare With China

R u n n i n g H e a d : C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 1

Cyber Warfare with China

Is the Department of Defense Prepared?

Thesis Proposal

Name of Institution

Name of Student

Grade of Study

Date

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Executive Summary

The dynamic nature of technology has brought a lot of good to the world but not without

new issues to worry about for security apparatus in different global territories. This thesis takes

an in depth look into the issue of cyber warfare and the United States Department of Defense

preparedness on the face of cyber warfare with China. There is a lot of research information

alluding to the fact that since the discovery of what is termed in military language as the fifth

battle space; tension has been on the rise owing to colliding activities in the cyberspace between

global leaders U.S. and China. With that regard, the researcher seeks to present an empirical

analysis into the level of preparedness of the U.S. in the case of cyber warfare with China. The

researcher uses a wealth of information found in previous literature together with empirical

results from research conducted to make deductions on whether the U.S. Department of Defense

is prepared and how well it is prepared. The ground research is conducted in the form of

interviews and surveys on selected participants who are fit to reply objectively on the subject

matter for instance Department of Defense officials. Responses received will be reviewed and

analyzed to realize the level of preparedness of the United States against China in cyber warfare.

The general notion of this thesis paper is despite the fact that China might be a potential cyber

threat; the U.S. Department of Defense is well prepared to neutralize any ensuing threats and

defend its computer networks and information systems against proliferation of any kind from

enemy networks. Through intensive research and review of previous literature on the subject

matter, the researcher hopes to achieve the objectives.

Keywords: cyberspace, cyber warfare, security.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Problem Description and Statement ........................................................................................................ 4

Research Questions and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 7

Significance of Research Project and Audience ........................................................................................ 8

Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 10

Cyber Space ............................................................................................................................................. 10

Importance of Cyberspace to Military Interests ..................................................................................... 13

Disadvantages of Cyber Warfare ............................................................................................................ 17

Why China is a Concern - Synthesis ........................................................................................................ 20

Strengths and Weaknesses of Previous Literature ................................................................................. 23

Tentative Solutions/Answers ...................................................................................................................... 26

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 28

Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................... 31

Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 32

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 35

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 37

Appendix A – Questionnaire. ...................................................................................................................... 41

Appendix B – Survey Questions. ................................................................................................................. 45

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Introduction

Problem Description and Statement

The People’s Republic of China has been identified by research as being more willing to

actively use cyber warfare in gaining mileage against other top global players like the U.S. This

opening remarks best starts off this thesis paper which seeks to present an in depth research to

the question of whether the United States, Department of Defense is ready for cyber warfare

against the People’s Republic of China. Research by Hjortdal (2011) informs that, cyberspace is

and will continually be a key element in China’s strategy of international system ascends. This

implies that China as a forthcoming global power is actively utilizing the cyberspace as a key

pillar in its global strategies. It is important to understand at this juncture that cyberspace is a

contemporary global dynamic that was not present for most if not all of the prevailing global

powers during their struggle for global space. Hjortdal’s (2011) research gives mainly three

reasons that inform the need for China to continually apply cyber warfare which are - military

espionage, industrial espionage and deterrence. In a proper explanation, the researcher is made to

understand for a fact that the main reason why China would be more likely to use the cyberspace

offensively than the United States is the fact that the United States been already well on the top

of the global ladder has little to gain from China while opposite, China has a lot to gain from the

United States. According to Hjortdal (2011), in the recent years, the United States has received

several attacks on the cyberspace which were then traced back to China. A study on the

development of China’s cyberspace and the patterns also indicate that the cyberspace is part and

parcel of all their strategic planning. Deterrence through penetration of critical national

infrastructure, military espionage on foreign military infrastructure in order to gain information

and advantage and economic espionage aimed at studying the economy and planning everything

for own economic advantage are just some of the ways that the People’s Republic of China

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utilizes their cyberspace against top players like the U.S and definitely against every other state

who they may feel obliged to espionage.

The above been the case, the United States department of defense needs to be prepared

contingently to neutralize any cyber attacks that may arise. Military specialist in cyber warfare

issues informs that cyberspace is tentatively the fifth battle space which has for a good time now

been a major priority for defense concerns (Racicot, 2008). Racicot (2008) concurs with Hjortdal

(2011) by airing out on one of the biggest cyber espionage sagas ever retraced back to the

people’s republic of China – the GhostNet. This cyber espionage comprised of over a hundred

infected computers around the whole of East Asia in different cities. It represents a clear image

of the case in point which is that China is a country ready engaging in offensive cyberspace

utilization – any attempts to resolve this from any of the global bodies or countries will definitely

lead to a break in peace. If the United States is the strongest nation or the most looked up to

nation of the twenty first century, is it readily prepared for cyber warfare with China? Racicot

(2008) in his detailed literal view tries explaining the possible reasons that might be behind the

offensive attitude adopted by China in the question of use and development of technological

might. Prior to the nineteenth century, the people’s republic of China had progressed well under

the Qin dynasty until a mutiny in the court occurred that divided the kingdom leading it to a

period of decline. During this period, the researcher informs that China was forced to agree to

unequal treaty deals that seized control of Hong Kong to the British and cause the opening of

more ports and the ravaging trade in opium. This situation during China’s century of humiliation

served to shape China’s future interactions with the west to what they are presently. Racicot

(2008) informs that Qin had been so convinced of the superiority of Chinese culture thus

concerning themselves with their own kingdom and paying less attention to developments in

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other places of the world. This led to them to lose in a sea battle against the first ever iron ocean

ship of the British – the Nemesis. In this contemporary times therefore, with technology being

within every authorities’ reach, the People’s Republic of China regard the cyberspace as a key

battlefront in all their global activities whether military, economic or informational.

On the other hand, the World Affairs journal reports that in 2011 cyber warfare was an

abstract topic in United States discussions on security issues. According to the journal most of

the discussions then were about defending U.S. computer networks and not attacking any other

party’s networks or preparedness levels on the face of government to government attacks. It is

clear that the United States is less concerned about engaging in offensive acts in cyberspace but

the point of this research is not to ignore the fact that China, a promising global player is actively

engage in cyberspace offensives and to discuss the preparedness of the U.S. department of

defense as far as this is concerned. Research has already informed that a number of cyber attacks

on U.S. networks were traced back to China. The United States department of defense reports

that its cyber warriors already have superior technologies that can facilitate the precise attack on

enemy computer networks (Gjelten, 2013). It is no doubt that there is a great deal of tension

between military interests as far as matters of cyber warfare are concerned. The need for

cyberspace détente between the United States and China is spelled out clearly informing that

both countries would do with an ease of political and military activities on the cyberspace

(Austin, 2014). This deduction makes the problem statement for this thesis paper – if there are

tensions in the cyber space between key global military interests, how prepared is the United

States department of defense being one of the military interest to neutralize threats and attacks on

the cyberspace when the enemy interest is China?

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Research Questions and Objectives

The researcher has a number of objectives that the research seeks to realize at the end.

They include one main objective and a four other objectives. Through review and empirical

research, the researcher intends to realize the objectives as follows:-

- The main objective of this research is to asses the level of preparedness of the United

States Department of Defense on the face of cyber warfare with China.

- Secondly, the researcher takes it up as an objective to properly study the cyberspace, its

origin and some of its specific importance to military interests globally.

- It is an objective of this research to investigate ways in which cyber warfare between

states might occur and discuss the advantages thereof under each of the possible way of

occurrence.

- Why China is the most concern for the globe as far as matters of cyber warfare are

concerned.

- Use relevant data in determining the level of preparedness and discussing different ways

through which the United States Department of Defense can neutralize cyber warfare

threats in the case of occurrence.

The researcher will also seek to answer the following research questions at the end of the

research. It is a general understanding that for the research to be complete, the researcher should

have attained the above stated objectives and answered all the questions of research. Some of the

questions that the researcher seeks to answer through an in depth studies of the topic at hand

include:-

1. What is the level of preparedness of the United States Department of Defense against

cyber warfare with China?

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2. What are the key interests that militaries protect in the cyberspace?

3. Why is the cyberspace a key field for contemporary military interests to concentrate on?

4. What are the major disadvantages of cyber warfare?

5. Which activities of the People’s Republic of China on the cyberspace can be considered

as a threat and which ones are just normal activities?

The researcher intends to conduct a deep study into the preparedness of the United States

department of defense against cyber related warfare. The study to be conducted will rely on

professional information from cyber specialists among other defense representatives

especially those dealing closely with cyber related crimes/cases. The fact that the research

will be specific on the type of respondents implies that the researcher seeks to gather only

valuable information from people able to give it in the specific field of study.

Significance of Research Project and Audience

Practically, this research project is of great significance to all concerned audience. First

thing first, the targeted audience for this research project ranges from the day to day law

enforcement officials, to legal practitioners, to defense agents on to military studies scholars and

to the general public. It is no doubt that the general public and citizens of the two countries being

discussed here have as much right to understand the state of affairs as any other special party

mentioned. This research project practically seeks to instill morale on the patriotic citizens while

partly challenging national security apparatus through the highlighting of some of the reasons

why the country need to be ready for cyber warfare against China. According to already

consulted research, China being on an ambitious climb up the global ladder would readily utilize

cyber warfare in order to get leverage. The United States agrees that there is need for a détente

between it and China as far as matters cyberspace is concerned. Therefore, through the analysis

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of United States level of cyber warfare preparedness this research project intends to have a

moralizing effect on the broader homeland security by pointing out on why the United States

department of defense is still better prepared.

Another significance of this research is the fact that it educates more on why the

cyberspace is continually becoming more and more of a military zone in the contemporary global

situation. By trying to study the main activities on the cyberspace that are considerable as

potential threats to foreign powers and those that are consider normal cyberspace activities, the

researcher seeks to educate the audience on what actually is going on in the cyberspace and how

bad is a cyberspace war in the case it occurs. Ways in which the People’s Republic of China uses

the cyberspace offensively also when highlighted helps concerned parties in understanding how

the cyberspace can be used offensively which might be helpful in helping concerned parties

develop protection to their computer networks. This research also adds to research on the field by

investigating a topic area that has not been widely explored by previous research projects. The

researcher notes that most of the previous research on cyberspace and the effects of cyber

warfare have focused a lot on the offensive practices of China and less on the preparatory moves

of the United States department of defense in tackling and neutralizing cyber warfare related

threats. Therefore, by pioneering this discussion using empirical research and back up evidence

from previous literature the researcher seeks to contribute to current research on the field by

highlighting ways in which the U.S. department of defense is prepared to tackle cyber warfare

threats from enemies. Understanding ways of tackling studied offensive cyberspace moves

educates the audience on counter-technical moves that can be used for cyberspace warfare.

In another light, the researcher sees that the research will be significant to different

economic interests through highlighting economic espionage and how it works to the advantage

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or disadvantage of respective parties. Earlier consulted research informed that China uses

economic espionage activities to get forehand economic information that helps it plan and twist

the economy to its advantage. Therefore, through highlighting how this is achievable, the

researcher intends to educate economic interests on the need to secure its economic networks and

flow of information. This may be useful not only to governments but even to multi national or

national corporations that seek to secure its economic directions by securing its most sensitive

information. Therefore the researcher identifies the above as another significance of the research

project.

Literature Review

In order to objectively understand this research project, the researcher deems it important

to first and foremost define the term cyberspace and explain with the help of research why it is so

important to contemporary military interests.

Cyber Space

According to army specialist Brett Williams (2014) the term cyber space has no direct

definition and the most explanations of the term can only be understood by the technically

advanced individuals. It is therefore, not in every one’s place to understand the term cyberspace

since not most of the people globally including the average internet users understand the

dynamics of the internet. However, for the purposes of most of the target audience for this

proposal, cyberspace can be defined as a complex esoteric concept generally hard to comprehend

but which adds new dimensions to economic and political projections. Further research evidence

helps understand the term as a time-oriented set of interconnected computer networks together

with the human users interacting with the networks (Ottis and Lorents, 2012). For the purposes

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of our research project, the human users in interaction with the interconnected computer

networks are trained cyber warriors working for the federal government.

Sufficient research informs that the cyberspace which is basically the internet is what

numerous factions of the society from militaries, political leaders, and business leaders among

others unmentioned rely on for real time information in the contemporary times (Williams,

2014). According to further research, the cyberspace is divided into the surface web and the deep

web. The surface web is where all average internet users connect and see, share or comment on

information but under this surface web, is the real cyberspace that is for great interests to

governments due to many reasons information and security being just some of them.

Lev et al. (2013) defined the deep web as the part of the internet consisting of websites

and databases that cannot be index by search engines. These databases and websites contain

information that are unavailable to normal internet users owing to the fact that the information

can only be accessed by special software designed for that purpose (Lev et al., 2013). According

to them, the deep web is a warehouse of classified information and a channel through which

private online affairs are conducted: the sole reason for its existence. While the government,

intelligent agents and law enforcers are the main consumers of the deep web, terrorists, drug and

human traffickers also find it as an ideal venue they can use to propagate their operations.

Similarly, Brian (2001) agreed with the idea that a large portion of the internet is invisible

even to the most powerful search engines like Google and AltaVista. According to his article,

“Getting to Know the Invisible Web”, he refers to this chunk of hidden part of the web as the

deep web. According to Bright Planet, quoted by Brian, the deep web zone is not only invisible

to the search engines but also harder to find as explained by the fact that the World Wide Web is

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evolving at a higher rate than the search engines can cope. Contrary to Ciancaglini et al., who

sees deep web as a potential tool to facilitate hooliganism, Brian views it as a source of vital

information fundamental to librarians and to professionals (2013).

Having realized the deep web as online information hidden to search engines, Ciancaglini

et al. (2013) explored various networks, otherwise referred to as “Darknets”, which guarantee

undetectable access to web content and include TOR, I2P and Freenet. Through these networks,

people can send encrypted information that is hidden from network surveillance network tools

like search engine crawlers. Nevertheless, these network however, especially the TOR network,

have facilitated cybercrime and other online underground online activities like spreading of virus

and other malicious content like pornography.

On the other hand, Eddy (2015) argued that the deep web is that place online that makes

technological marketplace operates in secrecy. According to him, he believed that the deep web

is the zone where the worst of the worst of activities happened online hiding them from

surveillance. However, just like Lev et al., he argued that the deep web is the course towards

secure internet (Eddy, 2015). This is explained by the fact that a larger portion of secure

information is not found at the face value of the internet but rather on the deep web.

Nevertheless, information with the deep web zones is rare to come by because it can only

accessed via an anonymous network which makes it hard to access the information and hence

hard to be indexed by search engines.

In accordance to the above literatures, the deep web is a zone on the World Wide Web

where information can be conveyed without being easily traced or being indexed by search

engines. It is the next evolution of storage and access of information on the internet in a secure

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way. Finally, information stored on the databases on the deep web can only be retrieved using

specialized software that are in most cases designed by the owners of those databases. Study of

this topic is relevant in the current world because of the increased wave of digitalization and

technological advancement that has swept the globe. It is therefore necessary to understand

functioning of the deep web to be well positioned to tackle underground marketplace activities

which are mainly coordinated via the deep web.

Importance of Cyberspace to Military Interests

The growing interconnectedness through the internet which led to the birth of the term

globalization has been reported to be advantageous to virtually all the world economies. As a

result, more and more countries are enthusiastic about the great economic advancement

opportunities that have been presented by the internet and the cyberspace. Researchers Gijsbers

and Veenendaal (2015) report that the dependence of contemporary economy on information

technology is projected to continually grow to the point where there will be no substitute for

digital technology in the economy. As a result, there is no doubt that cyberspace control and

security has an immense effect on the economic development, security, diplomatic, information

and military aspects of every nation. This thus shows one of the major uses of cyberspace – the

ability to enhance and facilitate globalization. This is also arguably the overall international use

of the cyberspace. In concordance to the above, Friedman (1999) informs that the technological

advancement and the development of the cyberspace has been for over two decades now bee the

active force shaping and redefining industries, politics, cultures and interactions between people

globally. In a typical example, Friedman (1999) educates that the social media nowadays is a

cohabiting place among most individuals with the numbers of people globally using social media

and the internet hitting over 2 billion. The research informs that the fact that social media bear a

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lot of hidden information for different individuals informs that cyberspace is a sector of interest

for security apparatus of each and every nation because it is up to them to ensure that

information hidden in the darkweb is not easily accessible to any other personae. In concurrence

to Lev et al. (2013) and Eddy (2015), Friedman (1999) informs that despite the fact that most of

the personal information of individuals is not visible on the surface web and requires more

sophisticated means to access, there are instances where criminals have successfully hacked and

infiltrated digital information for some individuals. These instances are what make cyberspace a

key area for authorities to look into because without proper measures to protect the digital

information and networks of one’s country, the country is defenseless in an era where

information is key in achieving competitive advantage.

Secondly, it is important to discuss the impactful role of cyberspace on the political

direction of countries. According to research by Reardon (2012), cyberspace has the potential to

affect the political direction of countries and as a matter of fact, global leader countries like the

United States, Russia and China utilize cyberspace in attaining political objectives. In the United

States and many other moderate, capitalist countries, political cyberspace comes in handy in

promoting the recognition of political underdogs. Research informs that cyberspace if properly

utilized can have transformative effects on national and international politics by ensuring the

empowerment of previously sidelined political players. On the other hand, in extremist countries

and many of the eastern countries, the use of cyberspace politically is to achieve the digital

deterrence of potential oppositions. The above descriptions explain the political use of

cyberspace and why it will continually grow to be a key factor to consider on all national

matters. In a research study from the journal of defense resources management, researcher

Podhorec (2012) informs that political use of the cyberspace is not only national but international

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too. The research shares evidence that global leader countries like the U.S. and China use the

cyberspace to conduct political espionage on countries of interest. In an era of information,

gathering political information on countries of interest helps these countries to be a step ahead of

the countries concerned without the countries knowing. This would consequently be tabled to

affect to the advantage of the superior country future negotiations of trade or otherwise between

these countries. Podhorec (2012) educates that more and more countries are training specialists

in cyberspace management and security so that they can protect their political information from

spilling to other countries and putting them in a precarious political position.

On the military front, it is not surprising why cyberspace dynamics are so important.

Logically, everything that affects the economic and political state of a country is bound to affect

the military strategies of the same country. According to research consulted, the United States of

America has invested quite a lot in ensuring that the country’s computer networks are not

susceptible to any enemy attacks (Racicot, 2008). Further research evidence on the military

importance of cyberspace to the United States department of defense is tossed up by researcher

Gjelten (2013) who informs that American cyber warriors have since devised cyber weaponry of

superior dimensions that can attack and break enemy computer networks with utmost precision.

Apart from the United States of America, research possesses evidence that the People’s Republic

of China is and will continue to use cyber warfare in order to gain an edge over rivals in the

international front (Hjortdal, 2011) - this is a classical case of the use of cyberspace for military

purposes. It is important to notice the connection between the use of cyberspace for information

and military. In a continually informational age, the first hand winner is he who has prior

information about anything. As a result, countries worldwide see great importance in guarding

their cyberspace and utilizing it for military purposes through the scramble for firsthand

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acquisition of new information. Countries also as seek to guard the information in their

individual cyberspaces as can be justified from research evidence which informs that more and

more countries are recruiting more manpower in the cyberspace related departments to ensure

that cyber security of a country is granted (Podhorec, 2012). Another form of military use of the

cyberspace is through cyber warfare which occurs in different ways all seeking to infiltrate

enemy computer networks gathering information about what plans they have. These forms

include all state-sanctioned economic espionage, military espionage and political espionage.

According to Hjortdal (2011), China is the only country that is actively utilizing the cyberspace

for the above stated military purposes. It should be understood at this juncture that there is proper

use of cyberspace for military, political and economic advantage but when these uses are made

directly with an aim of achieving informational advantage against another state and sanctioned

by a particular state, then they seize being legal uses but offensive uses of cyberspace. Apart

from the foregoing, Podhorec (2012) reports that the United States air force through the

development of precision drones and using information technology in programming and

powering these drones is using cyberspace for military purposes. These computerized drones are

operated through a network of information technology system relying on the cyberspace and they

are a classic case of the advancement of technology and importance of cyberspace to military

interests. The above discussed are some of the importance of cyberspace to military interest

globally, the researcher deduces that each and every state has a responsibility of developing ways

and measures to ensure that their cyberspace is protected from infiltration. Despite the fact that

most developing countries have little interests to hide from infiltration, it is important from the

onset that countries understand that the cyberspace is the key source of information globally in

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these contemporary times and the more secure a nation’s cyberspace, the better the overall

security level of the country.

Disadvantages of Cyber Warfare

Cyber warfare although largely unnoticeable has many disadvantages to the life in the

contemporary world. According to evidence from researcher O’Connell (2012), the United States

of America has the most number of expertise and personnel monitoring the internet and this has

for a good number of years resulted in cold cyber warfare between the United States and China.

Scott Applegate (2015), reports that cyber warfare is an emerging threat with adverse effect on

the data security, economic and financial security of a victim because it provides the attacker

with asymmetric leverage over the victim while providing him with plausible deniability. Further

reading informs that current players in the cyberspace who possess sophisticated capabilities can

use these cyber capabilities to attack and fragment control and command structures, disrupt

critical infrastructure and greatly undercut security apparatus of the attacked. A case in point is

the United States cyber attack on Iranian nuclear facilities – this proved that superior cyber

warfare weapons are arguably more dangerous than actual warfare weapons. Generally, it can be

stated clearly that cyber warfare is disadvantageous as it is the quickest way to trigger a full

fledged war in this second millennia.

Research from the journal of law, policy and globalization (2013) informs that another

possible disadvantage of any instance of cyber warfare globally is the loss of valuable data.

According to the research, there are many companies multi-nationally, nationally or locally

operating that have stored valuable information online. The occurrence of cyber warfare can lead

to the immediate lose of these valuable information (Maskun, 2013). The lose of really valuable

information of even the most important of government offices can lead to the crippling of an

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entire economy as set out by Applegate (2015). Maskun (2013) informs that apart from the lose

of information; the occurrence of cyber warfare globally can lead to the loss of millions of

money banked online. In a properly built case, the researcher informs that for instance when

there is cyber warfare and all information in PayPal or any other online bank is crumbled, most

people together with the company stand to lose millions and millions of money because the

records are altered and there is no possible way of retrieving the data because of crumbled

systems. This points out on the need for proper security measures by governments to help secure

countries’ computer networks from the threat of cyber attacks.

In concordance to the above stated, Tisdall (2010) informs that like any other form of

attack, cyber warfare takes a toll on the world with economies been the most affected parts in the

occurrence of cyber attacks. In the study of the disadvantages of cyber warfare socially research

finds out that criminals perpetrating attacks have plausible deniability and the rate at which

technology evolves gives them great cover and time to plan next attacks with new designs and

dynamics (Tisdall, 2010; Applegate, 2015). Therefore, the only proper remedy against cyber

warfare is for authorities and governments to always be on the defensive and look out for the

patterns of attacks. This research informs that the ever changing nature of attacks puts authorities

on a disadvantage if they try to prepare offensive because they will then be attacked without any

form of defense to protect them a situation that leaves the computer networks more vulnerable as

compared to going on the defensive and putting up enough manpower to study and neutralize

upcoming attacks. A proper case to look into to get some real insight on the possible

disadvantages of cyber warfare attacks on a country is the Estonia 2007 attack that is to date

regarded as one of the worst cyber attacks. According to Tisdall (2010), this attack was

perpetrated through the use of over a million infected computers in the Estonian territory that

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were negatively used to jam business, media and government websites. Word went round that the

attacks were made by the Russians but as explained by Applegate (2015) cyber attacks main

disadvantage is the fact that they give the attacker asymmetrical advantage over the attacked and

plausible deniability in the aftermath. This attack led to the lose of millions in Euros and apart

from the United States infiltration of the Iranian nuclear plants, this is another example of the

disadvantages of cyber warfare.

Matsubara (2012) agrees with Tisdall (2010) on the point that cyber warfare is on the rise

and may soon be a weapon of choice for states in the face of international threats. In reviewing

the United States Stuxnet attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, Matsubara (2012) posits that

any state or group of individuals with superior know-how in matters of cyber warfare can do a

lot of damage to the power systems, grids, security systems and even financial systems of any

country. These sentiments had been earlier echoed by Applegate (2015). A critical look at the

above possibilities in the face of cyber warfare inform why research by O’Connell (2012) finds

out that the United States has the most number of personnel acting as sentries on the cyberspace.

This is the epitome of tension between the United States and Chi8na on the cyberspace and in

case of occurrence of cyber warfare, the whole globe would lose a lot financially and the systems

of many countries would be crashed totally. Despite cyber warfare been a looming threat,

research evidence shows surprise on how many countries are misunderstanding and

underestimating the potential damage that the cyberspace can do to a country’s technical

apparatus (Matsubara, 2012; Tisdall, 2010). Matsubara (2012) further informs that the main

source of confusion on the strength of cyber warfare capabilities is the lack of understanding

among parties of the dynamics of cyber attacks like the Estonian 2007 or the recent Stuxnet

attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. This lack of knowledge on most of the authorities inform

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that cyber warfare can have adverse disadvantages to such countries in case of occurrence

because most of these countries do not have the slightest defense against the slightest form of

cyber warfare. Research finds out that another disadvantage of cyber warfare is the fact that most

of the countries globally do not posses the expertise nor the financial resources to develop

sophisticated cyber weaponry (Matsubara, 2012) – this therefore puts most nations apart from the

global leaders with cyber technology in a precarious position and is the more reason that there

should be a political détente in cyberspace activities between the U.S. and the China.

Why China is a Concern - Synthesis

The above review of literature has focused on the definition and the national importance

of the cyberspace. This is important to the overall research since it helps the audience understand

how important the cyberspace is for nations and as a result prepares the audiences’ mind to

understand the need for the United States department of defense to be properly prepared in case

of a cyber warfare against any of the eastern global powers. The statement of different

importance of cyberspace to nations globally aims at opening the mind of the audience to

understand specific uses of cyberspace to nations. Since previous research has already shed light

on the ready and willingness of China to deploy cyber warfare in order to gain international

mileage, the level of preparedness of the United States department of defense is under question.

This gives this research project the green light to research and understand the level of

preparedness of the United States of America department of defense against cyber warfare with

China.

According to Matsubara (2012), the United States of America possess one of the most

sophisticated cyber warfare weaponry and this is justifiable by concurrent research evidence

from Gjelten (2013) that reports the United States development of precision cyber weaponry

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 21

with the capabilities of infiltrating enemy computer networks and launching attacks. O’Connell

(2012) in agreement to the foregoing informs that in the global cyberspace, the United States of

America is the only country that has staged numerous spies and surveyors a situation that brews

a lot of tension between the U.S. and China. The literal evidence also pointed out on the three

offensive methods that the People’s Republic of China utilizes the cyberspace for and deterrence

informs why the numerous number U.S. cyberspace spies have been unable to penetrate the

Chinese computer networks. Based on all the research evidence consulted so far, there are two

possibilities that can be used to explain the scenario. The first possibility is that the Chinese have

superior offensive as well as defensive measures on the cyberspace that deter U.S. spy agents

from infiltrating and gathering any information from the Chinese cyberspace. Relating the above

with Gjelten (2013) and Matsubara (2012) evidences, the above possibility is disputable owing to

the fact that the United States claims to possess the most superior cyber weaponry and that it can

infiltrate any computer systems and cause a breakdown as per discretion. The Stuxnet infiltration

of Iranian nuclear infrastructure is enough evidence to show that the United States has superior

cyber technology. The other possibility that the researcher finds plausible to explain the scenario

is that despite the U.S. having a lot of personnel monitoring the cyberspace than any other

country globally, the U.S. unlike China is not interested in using the cyberspace offensively but

in monitoring the use of the same by other global players. The researcher’s opinion is that the

last scenario best explains why the United States has not yet launched a cyber offensive on China

(Gjelten, 2011).

Irrespective of the above case, research finds evidence that the republic of China has tried

launching a number of cyber espionages on the U.S. There have been numerous attempts to

attack or infiltrate the United States computer networks and electronic systems but according to

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 22

research, none of the attempts have been successful (Lai & Rahman, 2012). According to Lai and

Rahman (2012) China’s continued cyber attacks on the United States cyber space display a lack

of technical dominance of the former over the latter. The researchers point out that from the

attacks it can be studied that unfortunately, China’s dominance of the cyberspace is more of a

cognitive issue than a technical issue. The researchers offer evidence of the use of cyber war in

the operation desert storm by the United States that shocked the whole globe and probably made

China alert on the importance of offensive cyber warfare. A similar explanation of China’s

offensive tendencies on the cyberspace was explained by Racicot’s (2008) research that informed

that ever since the defeat of the Chinese by the British in the nineteenth century due to

technological superiority of the British, the Chinese have vowed to work extra hard in ensuring

that they are developed technologically to be a key player in global matters. The researcher in

comparing previous research already reviewed finds out that the United States despite being laid

back and conducting no offensives on any foreign countries except for military purposes might

still be the best prepared country globally in the face of cyber warfare with whichever country.

This is justifiable by two main facts already highlighted – the fact that there has been no

successful infiltration of the United States computer networks by any foreign countries despite

numerous attempts and the fact that the United States has successfully waged cyber warfare

against enemies to the surprise of most of the nations globally. On the other hand, it is agreed

that the People’s Republic of China is the most aggressive user of the cyberspace and that no

country including the United States has attempted directly stopping its numerous aggressive

activities in the cyberspace. For a long time, the Chinese cyberspace has been a no go zone and

there is still sufficient reason to belief that the Chinese cyberspace is one of the most secured

cyberspaces globally. This is attributable to superior cyber technologies and expertise. According

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 23

to some of the evidence consulted, China uses the offensive cyber warfare in conducting

economic espionage to gain economic advantage against competitor countries through acquiring

information and making fast plans that would ensure economic turns are favorable. Political

espionage and deterrence, implying that other countries are unconditionally denied access to the

Chinese cyberspace while the country secretly collects political information on other countries

and military espionage in collecting and tapping intelligence information for military interests.

Austin (2014) finds out that the above scenario pits the United States against the People’s

Republic of China on the cyberspace with confirmed evidence that the latter is more willing to

use radical measures in the cyberspace in order to gain mileage. According to Austin (2014),

there is need for political détente between these two global leaders or the inevitable will happen

– the occurrence of massive cyber warfare. With the disadvantages of cyber warfare to the globe

having been outlined, it is shocking to think of what would become of the world if the U.S. is to

go at war with China in the cyberspace. The objective of this research project is to identify

whether the United States of America is prepared enough to defend its cyberspace against cyber

attacks from China.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Previous Literature

There is a lot of literature on cyberspace and cyber warfare online and this informs that

there is much to learn from as pertains to cyberspace and cyber related security issues from

previous literature alone. However, there is no doubt that previous literature has some

weaknesses which therefore justifies the researcher’s reasons to use both previous literature and

empirical research in making deductions for this research project. The researcher finds a major

strength of previous literature as being the fact that retired army officials, military personnel as

well other players or stakeholders in cyberspace security are the researchers. For instance,

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 24

researchers Racicot (2008) and Austin (2014) are individuals who have worked closely with

matters of security especially pertaining to cyber warfare. This informs that most of the research

consulted contained credible information as far as cyber related security issues are concerned.

Therefore, the fact that military officials have invested time in educating the masses on matters

of cyberspace and cyber warfare strengthens this research and gives it direction by offering

useful insights on what is to be expected in the occurrence of cyber warfare. This fact makes the

researcher’s work partly done and leaves him with little worrying to do. On the other hand, the

fact that information age has necessitated the smooth flow of information, previous literature is

endowed with strengths such as plenty of information on cyber warfare. Apart from specialized

personnel in military and security issues conducting research on cyber warfare, research finds out

that there is a lot of literature on cyberspace and cyber related security issue. This is attributable

to mainly two factors. The first factor is that there is a smooth flow of information due to

technological advancement and therefore this has made it easy for any researchers interested in

the line of study to conduct meaningful research and share it online. The other factor that can be

blamed is the red alert on the cyberspace and cyber related issues which has caused the media

and other interested parties to conduct research on the effects of the cyberspace on the global

economics, politics and security dynamics. A proper example of the foregoing is the World

Affairs Journal research conducted by researcher Gjelten (2011); this research was necessitated

by the red alert on cyber related security issues. As a result of the two explained factors, there is

a lot of cyberspace and cyber warfare information that the researcher found useful in the

construction of this research project – this was a major strength of previous research to this new

research project.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 25

Another strength worth to include in this section due to its effectiveness in providing

empirical information for use in the research is the fact that the United States department of

defense has shared information on the level of preparedness of the department as far as matters

cyber warfare are concerned. This eases the research process leaving only the hard work being to

find out the tentative potential of enemy forces to attack the American cyberspace. In support to

the foregoing, there is enough research evidence that points out to the potential strengths of

China in offensive utilization of the cyberspace. For instance Hjortdal’s (2011) research gives

important information on the economic, military and politic espionage offensives that the

People’s Republic of China carries out using the deep cyberspace. In concordance Lai &

Rahman (2011) sharer that China has carried out a number of unsuccessful attacks on the

American cyberspace. Empirical evidence such as the stated that touches directly on the United

States’ and China’s activities on the cyberspace serve to give the research proper direction and

act as pillars of research from which important deductions will be made after relating literature to

empirical results. In a nutshell, previous literature offers enough information to work on for this

research but for objectivity purposes, the researcher intends to also carry out an empirical study

of the level of preparedness of the United Sates department of defense against China in cyber

warfare.

Despite the undeniable fact that there is a lot of information from previous research on

cyberspace, cyber warfare, its advantages to military interests and potential disadvantages to the

world, there are some weaknesses specific to this research that the researcher deems it fit to

highlight. Contrary to the mentioned strengths above, there is no doubt that there is little research

conducted on the level of preparedness of the United States department of defense against cyber

warfare with China or Russia. The above informs that this research project will be the first to

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 26

focus on the level of preparedness of the United States military against cyber warfare with China.

Apart from being the first research to expressly focus on those lines; this research project has

ethical considerations as previous research has not directly focused on comparing the levels of

preparedness between the United States and China. In that light therefore, the researcher

understands that it may be hard to present a completely genuine comparison between the levels

of preparedness of the two global powers. This is because, obtaining information specific to the

level of preparedness of the United States of America against the People’s Republic of China on

the face of cyber warfare can be hard due to the ethical considerations highlighted. Specific

information pertaining to national levels of preparedness against any form of disaster let alone

cyber warfare is normally classified in order to shield the general public from tensions that are

less their concern. Therefore, the researcher anticipates that it would be hard to obtain

information that would specifically measure or state a measure of the level of preparedness of the

United States of America against China in cyber warfare. This is therefore the greatest blow to

this research project coupled with the fact that no previous research has specifically tried

addressing the matter as it is. Most of the previous research that the researcher has relied upon in

developing this project has been directly focused on exploring cyberspace or cyber warfare as

pertaining to U.S. and China in isolation. Therefore, this research will have a difficult time

overcoming the ethical issues and presenting a detailed research on the level of preparedness of

the U.S. against cyber warfare with China. The above are the main weaknesses envisioned by

this research project and experienced from previous research in the field too.

Tentative Solutions/Answers

Dipert (2010) defines cyber warfare as one nation’s attack on the civilian or

governmental information networks of another. In depth reading shows that existing international

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 27

war policies as well as existing war laws do not directly apply to cyber warfare and as a result

better approaches need to be adopted in order to curb the break out of a major cyber war. The

People’s Republic of China in its bid to become the best positioned country globally intends to

continue waging cyber warfare on different fronts (Hjortdal, 2011) – this situation has

precipitated a major stand off between China and the United States as far as cyberspace control is

concerned. The reason why traditional war laws can not properly tackle the cyber warfare

menace is because the dynamics of cyber warfare are a bit more complicated when compared to

those of traditional warfare where physical damage and casualties were signs of warfare. Cyber

warfare is termed as to potentially have adverse effects on an nation’s important interests and

apart from this, attribution of cyber warfare is a case that remains contentious since the attacker

possessing superior cyber weaponry can launch attacks and feign irresponsibility.

With regard to the above, this research proposal argues that the best solution and answers

to cyber warfare globally can only be found if proper cyber warfare policies are put in place. The

fact that there are few advanced negotiations towards the development of global cyber warfare

policies informs why there is a long stand off between global leaders and further necessitates the

need for inclusive global cyberspace policies. For instance research by Austin (2014) reports that

the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China all agree that there is need for a

cyber warfare truce between the two countries. This will ease the tension between the countries

and as a result, instances of cyber warfare that are expected there been no truce will be averted.

In a study conducted by Colarik and Janczewski (2012) it is found out that the development of

national cyber warfare doctrine is probably the best way to go about the sanitization of the fifth

battle space. According to the researchers, with this doctrine in place, a country’s information

technology systems and any other supporting infrastructures will be considered legitimate

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 28

military targets in conflicts. With this clear identification, it will be easy for countries to identify

attacks on their cyberspaces and the clear identification will ensure that potential cyber warfare

threats are reduced thanks to the cyber warfare doctrine.

Therefore, the overall solution to the case in study as far as the various research

evidences have confirmed is the development of global cyber warfare policies. These policies

should be jointly developed between leading global countries. The joint development will ensure

that interests of each global country are articulated in the policy development process. With a

proper cyber warfare policy, the world can be sure to avert the looming cyber warfare threat

between leading countries like the United States of America and China.

Methodology

A mixed approach will be employed as the method for data collection throughout this

research project. The researcher identifies that one single method will be insufficient in attaining

the purpose of the study and therefore there is need to incorporate mixed methodology for the

research. The mixed methodology approach will help the researcher clearly make findings on the

level of preparedness of the United States department of defense against cyber warfare with

China, a number of data collection and analysis methods will be used.

The first method that will highly be employed through the study is field research method

where selected respondents will be welcomed for interviews in which they will provide detailed

information about their experience with cyber warfare related cases. The sampling technique to

utilize for the field research is non-random purposive sampling whereby individuals identified to

be specialized enough to give empirical information on the matters of cyberspace and cyber

warfare will be invited in for interviewing. These will be individual with specialized skills in

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 29

computer networking, information technology, university computer science teachers and

curriculum developers among other specialized individuals that can offer useful information on

the subject. The sample number for interviewees will be a minimum of one hundred interviewees

and this number is large so that the researcher can collect a wide array of information that will be

useful in determining the level of preparedness of the United States department of defense on the

face of cyber warfare with China. The interviewer will seek to find out important information

about the interviewee for instance how often he/she deals with matters related to cyber warfare

and what is the bulk of information protected by different military interests in the cyberspace?

The field research is a proper and advantageous method to the entire research because it

guarantees the research first hand information from professionals and personnel who either

directly or indirectly deals with matters pertaining to cyber warfare in the United States of

America on a daily basis. Utmost care will be taken while selecting respondents such that only

respondents who fit a particular bracket will qualify to be interviewed for the research project.

This ensures that the research gathers genuine information from the field which would be

instrumental in making final deductions of research. The estimated time-frame for the field

research will be at least five weeks at an average of three interviews per day. This timing despite

been long, will prove worthwhile since at least a hundred respondents will be scheduled and

interviewed. The researcher will prepare twenty interview questions that each interviewee will be

required to reply to, to the best of his/her knowledge. The researcher understands that most of the

interviewees will be specialized individuals in computer networks and cyberspace security

concerns and acknowledges the fact that these individuals most of whom have no direct

experience in matters of national security whatsoever can not be in position to help the research

in assessing the level of preparedness of the department of defense against cyber warfare. This is

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 30

why the researcher intends to use this interviews as routes to understanding the United States

general publics understanding of the cyberspace and the possibility of cyber warfare and

precautions taken thereof. The interviewees consisting of university technicians, corporation

computer networks technicians, individual computer literates among other persons versed in the

operations of computer networks stand up as the best representation of a nation’s computer

literacy. Therefore the researcher intends to find out how versed these populations are and this

will go hand in hand in understanding the level of preparedness of the department of defense

against cyber warfare threats from China.

The research will also conduct surveys through phone interviews to different respondents

in the military as well as other cyberspace security responsible agencies and stakeholders. The

survey questionnaires will be developed from the analysis of the information gathered from the

interviews conducted on cyberspace specialists. As such, this survey questions will be brief but

will touch on the most important issues that need to be addressed from the type of respondents

that they will be addressed to. The fact that it could be impossible to find military officials and

interview them as well as other security agencies dealing closely with cyber related security

issues informs the need to conduct the short surveys via phone. The number of respondents to be

surveyed will be ten and their responses to short, direct questions on cyberspace and cyber

warfare will be an integral part of this research. The aim of the survey questions is to ensure that

the military personnel and other agency officials dealing with cyber warfare related issues

respond to formal inquiries with concrete and verifiable information. Utilizing this method of

data collection ensures that the findings of the entire study are concrete, genuine and objective.

These questions will be relatively different from the open ended questions used in the field

research however, questions from the field research together with the responses received will be

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 31

put to use in building up and developing the survey questionnaire. This thus informs that the

questionnaire will be rigorous and will help capture information that is very instrumental to the

entire research.

The analysis of the data collected from the research methodologies will be done

rigorously to ensure each and every bit of information is clearly indicated and analyzed in order

to have a bearing on the final research results. From the qualitative review of previous literature,

the researcher developed the understanding that despite the United States department of defense

playing dumb as far as the question of preparedness against cyber warfare related threats is

concerned, the department is well prepared to tackle any threats in the cyberspace. Research

evidence even indicates that the United States cyber warriors have since developed powerful

cyber weaponry that can mount attacks on enemy computer networks and information

technology systems and cause a lot of digital damage. The People’s Republic of China continues

to use cyber warfare in securing and fortifying its cyberspace which is relative to the military

importance of cyber security. However, the researcher only having to test the difficulty level of

breaking into computer networks and information systems of the United States can not

confidently make any deductions on the level of preparedness of the Chinese republic however

as previous research has informed, there is no doubt that China has one of the tightest cyber

spaces globally.

Hypothesis

Insert hypothesis.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 32

Analysis

Analysis of the data collected under the interview section and the survey section of the

research methodology presented a pattern that suggested that the department of defense of the

United States is rather prepared for whatever cyber threats that the world may present especially

if from the Republic of China. The interviewing section conducted over a hundred interviews of

different respondents with all respondents responding to a range of twenty open ended questions

that probed on their knowledge and experience in matters related to cyberspace and impending

threat of cyber warfare. As already explained, the selection process for interviewees was non-

random and purposive so that only respondents fitting the specialty criteria qualified to be

interviewed. The specialty criteria was that respondents were to be advanced computer literates

with the knowledge of penetra6tinbg not only the surface web but also the deep web and with

understanding of the dynamics of the cyberspace and its importance and value to the economic,

politics and security well-being of states. One question that received a particularly shared pattern

of responses from the respondents was the question of “What makes you think that the

department of defense is prepared for cyber warfare with China?” The respondents presented

varied reasons for thinking and believing that the United States department of defense was

prepared for cyber warfare with China. For instance, one of the respondents alluded to the 1990s

desert storm affair where the U.S. department of defense deployed the then new cyber warfare

techniques that awed the whole Eastern bloc and used that effective in quashing Iraqi’s forces

that were still using technologically inferior means of warfare. Another respondent, a computer

networks technician with a multi-national organization alluded to the fact that their organization

alone has been able to quash different cyberspace attacks directed to their systems thus

protecting the organization from cyber criminals who wage cyber warfare to gain economic

advantages. To this, the respondents made a comparison that if a corporation established in the

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 33

U.S. has within itself the capacity to defend its computer networks and enable transparent online

trading, how then can someone think that the department of defense is not better prepared. In a

nutshell, the interview section presented answers to questions that seconded the fact that the

department of defense is well prepared for any cyber warfare with the Eastern giant China. The

fact that the U.S. has the most personnel monitoring the global cyberspace itself informs that the

U.S. is in control of the cyberspace and that it does not intend to use it for any offensive purposes

unlike China which tries every means to perform espionage on the former.

The on phone survey results presented answers to four direct questions from ten military

and security agency officials and the patterns were relative to those of the interview results on

computer specialists. Most of the military and security personnel surveyed on phone advised that

the American public as well as the world have nothing to fear from the occurrence of a cyber

warfare because in case of an occurrence, the United States had means to quash and neutralize

attacks in the fastest way possible not to mention the fact that the United States cyber warriors

had in their possessions some of the most sophisticated precision cyber weapons that could crash

and fragment integral systems of any enemy nation(s). These sentiments are in concurrence with

relevant research data that informs that the United States is one of the most technologically

sophisticated countries in the world. Instances like a recent infiltration of Iranian nuclear system

which caused the attacked country a lot of losses in terms of money and value of information

confirm the fact that the United States is superior technologically and thus would hardly be

afraid of any of the potential enemies in case of a cyber warfare. Most of the military and

security personnel interviewed on phone replied to a particular question in a rather similar

manner, the question asked was “If the United States is not afraid of China in the cyberspace,

why would it have the most personnel guarding the cyberspace?” To this question, the researcher

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 34

analyzed the following reply – The United States being one of the most active players in the

rapid development of the cyberspace in the past two decades, takes it as its responsibility to

ensure that the cyberspace is protected and that the American population as well as infrastructure

are protected from malicious cyber activities, this is the reason that the U.S. is interested in

guarding the cyberspace. On the other hand, the U.S. been one of the pillars of civility globally,

is not interested in engaging in any cyber offensives but protecting the American computer

networks and infrastructure and the world entirely from dangerous offensive practices. This is

precisely why, O’Connell (2012) finds out that the United States of America is regularly

guarding the cyberspace yet not under pressure to retaliate any cyber attacks that it has faced

from China.

The above deductions help in understanding the tentative position of the United States

department of defense as far as matters of cyber warfare are concerned. It is crystal clear that the

United States of America has cyberspace capability that can not be easily overcome. The

numerous unsuccessful cyber attacks on the American cyber space from China reinforce the

foregoing point and as Lai & Rahman (2012) concur, the Chinese dominance in the cyberspace is

much in the cognitive than it is in the technical. The actual truth position as found out from some

of the empirical results in this research is that the U.S. has been successful in protecting its

computer networks and infrastructure from penetration by malicious cyber attackers. This is

evidence enough that the U.S. is much prepared for cyber warfare with not only China, but

Russia among any other nations that may feel tempted to directly test the strength of this super

power in the cyberspace.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 35

Conclusion

Conclusively, this research project has endeavored to take an in depth look into the global

cyberspace situation and on an overview basis, the research has found sufficient evidence that

there is a looming possibility for the occurrence of cyber warfare between the United States of

America and the People’s Republic of China. The research finds out that there are two major

reasons for the above dreadful possibility. The first reason as researched by O’Connell (2012) is

the fact that the United States been one of the main participants in the development of the global

cyberspace in the last two decades has more personnel than any other nation monitoring and

patrolling the cyberspace a situation that the Republic of China feels is unfair and responds to by

tightening deterrence such that American watchdogs can not spy on the Chinese cyberspace. On

the other hand, numerous thwarted cyber attacks attempts on the American cyberspace have been

retraced by specialists back to China informing that the People’s Republic of China has already

made cyberspace offensives towards the U.S.

The lack of proper international policies governing the use of the international

cyberspace, counts as one of the factors that would likely promote fully fledged cyber warfare

between the United States and China. From the trend identified from this research, it is

confirmable that existing international war laws do not apply to cyber warfare (Dipert, 2010) and

as such it is of utmost importance that cyber warfare policies on national and international levels

be developed to govern country activities on the cyberspace (Colarik & Janczewski, 2012). With

the development of these doctrines, a countries informational and electrical infrastructure will be

considered legitimate military targets and the international bond of the law will deter countries

like China from continually attempting any for of espionage on the cyberspace. The research has

described numerous disadvantages of cyber warfare and it would be a great global blow if the

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 36

United States of America and the People’s Republic of China get to war on the cyberspace. Thus,

the researcher advices that a détente of activities in the cyberspace between the two global

leaders be considered (Austin, 2014); this should then be followed by expedited efforts towards

the development of the international cyberspace laws and regulations. For the purposes of

inclusivity, these laws should be developed in consultation with all the major global player

countries, this will ensure that interests of all countries are considered and no countries feel left

out as this is the origin of all global misunderstandings. In answering the title question of this

research paper, the researcher through empirical evidence finds out that despite the fact that

China exhibits continuous offensive operations in the cyberspace; the U.S. has all the capabilities

to withstand cyber warfare against China.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 37

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implications.pdf

O’Connell, E. M. (2012). Cyber Security without Cyber War. Journal of Conflict and Security

Law, vol. 17. No. 2. Pp. 187-209. Accessed from

http://jcsl.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/2/187.full

Podhorec, M. (2012). Cyber Security within the Globalization Process. University of Defense:

Czech Republic. Viewed from

http://journal.dresmara.ro/issues/volume3_issue1/02_podhorec.pdf

Racicot, J. (2008). The Past, Present and Future of Chinese Cyber Operations. National Defense

and the Canadian Armed Forces. Retrieved from

http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol14/no3/page26-eng.asp

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Literature. Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Viewed from

http://ecir.mit.edu/images/stories/Reardon%20and%20Choucri_ISA_2012.pdf

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C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 40

Williams, B. (2014). Cyberspace: What is it, where is it and who cares? Armed Forces Journal.

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who-cares/

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 41

Appendix A – Questionnaire.

Interview questions for each of the a hundred participants. Interview duration will be five

weeks at an average of three interviews per day. The questions are listed numerically with each

question containing relatively three answers that respondents would give.

1. What kind of knowledge, courses, do you need to understand and work in your field?

- Computer science techniques.

- Understand the operations of computer networking at an advanced level.

- Understand cyberspace security issues at advanced levels.

2. Do you think you have the proper skills and tools to do your job effectively and

knowledge?

- Definitely.

- Yes.

- I am qualified.

3. How fast are technology changes, are you always up to date with courses etc?

- Dynamically fast.

- Unbelievably fast.

- Yes.

- Am working at it.

4. Have you ever work in cybercrime?

- Yes.

- No.

- I work in cybercrime.

5. What is your knowledge on cybercrime, cyberspace and cyber warfare?

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 42

- Quite enough.

- Satisfactory.

- Well knowledgeable.

6. What is your knowledge on the surface web, darknet or Dark web. Can you penetrate

each of the stated with ease?

- Quite enough.

- Satisfactory.

- Well knowledgeable.

- Yes.

- Definitely.

7. Do you properly understand the differences of similarities of each of the stated in terms

of their uses and security advantages?

- Yes.

- Fully.

- I do understand satisfactorily.

8. Have you ever got intelligence or information from cybercrime or programs i.e., darknet,

silk roads, dark web etc…?

- A number of times.

- Often work on such reports.

- Have received such reports.

9. How did you learn about cyberspace and cyber related security issues?

- Professional studies.

- Computer networking studies.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 43

- Security studies related to cyberspace.

10. Does your organization have properly secured computer networks?

- Yes.

- Very well secured.

- Secure indeed.

11. In what ways are criminals committing cyber attacks?

- Hacking for sensitive information.

- Jamming integral organizational or governmental infrastructure.

- Hijackings and extortions online.

12. Under what kinds of crime can one categorize cyber attacks?

- Cyber related crimes.

- Second degree crimes.

- Cyber crimes.

13. Does the country security apparatus monitor the cyberspace effectively?

- Yes.

- If not for proper monitoring we would not be safe.

- Definitely because most of the integral infrastructure in the country is well secured.

14. Have you ever been able to penetrate a sensitive government domain through your

expertise?

- No.

- Have tried.

- Could penetrate but do not try.

15. How much time and effort can it take to tackle cyber attacks?

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 44

- Quite a lot.

- Would require enough time and consistent efforts.

- A good time since building enough expertise is integral.

16. What are some of the worst effects of cyber attacks to a country or organizations?

- Paralysis of integral infrastructure.

- Economic slide.

- Financial losses.

17. Do you think the world is moving in a direction whereby cyberspace will be a preferable

battle space?

- Yes.

- Definitely.

- In a very short time.

18. Do you think the United States of America is prepared for cyber warfare against China?

- Well prepared.

- Better prepared.

- Best prepared.

19. Do you think China has better cyberspace technology than the U.S.?

- Yes.

- Definitely.

- No doubt.

20. In what ways do you think the United States of America department of defense is

prepared against China in cyber warfare?

- Development of superior weaponry.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 45

- Development of superior deterrence mechanisms.

- Consistent monitoring of the global web.

Appendix B – Survey Questions.

The survey was conducted via phone on a total of ten military officials among other security

agency officials. The questions were short and direct aimed at gathering empirical information

about the U.S. security position on the global cyberspace

1. What is the cyberspace?

- The global internet space.

- The cloud of internet space.

- What hosts the global interconnectivity networks.

2. Why is it a concern for security apparatus?

- It is an integral part of contemporary information gathering process.

- It is a strategic military battler ground.

- Contemporary organizations are digitally based.

3. What efforts do security apparatus put forth in the daily protection of the American

cyberspace?

- Consistent monitoring of the global cyberspace.

- Development of superior deterrence mechanisms against own cyberspace.

- Analysis of patterns of cyber attacks and threats to determine threat potentials and act

accordingly.

4. Does the U.S. fear for cyber warfare with China?

- No.

C Y B E R W A R F A R E | 46

- Not really.

- I do not think so.

5. Why then does it have numerous numbers of personnel monitoring the global

cyberspace?

- To act in its capacity as a pioneer cyberspace developer globally.

- To protect its own interests.

- To defend against malicious cyber activities as they occur.

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