RAND Corporation: Response Options to Cyber Attacks on U.S. Government Networks

 

POLICY UPDATE Cyber and Data Sciences May 3, 2022
Image by Alexey Novikov/Adobe Stock
Response Options to Cyber Attacks on U.S. Government Networks The United States has proved vulnerable to cyber incidents, and a lack of response has emboldened Russia and China to expand their cyber espionage activities. Have U.S. responses changed over time or affected adversary behavior? What lessons do these cases offer for future policymaking? Read more »

Reports and Journal Articles

Illustration by Jessica Arana/RAND Corporation from Sean Rayford/Alamy; dem10/Getty Images; sestovic/Getty Images; Dilok Klaisataporn/Getty Images; Comstock/Getty Images How Extremism Operates Online Extremist groups use internet-based tools for financing, networking and coordination, recruitment and radicalization, inter- and intra-group knowledge transfer, and mobilization to action. How do internet users engage with these efforts? And can the internet be leveraged to counter extremism? Read more »

Photo by Nguyen Minh/Reuters How and Why China Uses Gray Zone Tactics China uses a variety of gray zone tactics—coercive actions that are shy of armed conflict but beyond normal diplomatic and economic activities—to advance its objectives, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Which tactics should the United States prioritize countering? Read more »

Photo by Black_Kira/Getty Images The Effects of Technology on Strategic Deterrence Emerging technologies—especially those related to information aggression and manipulation, automation, hypersonic systems, and unmanned systems—hold dramatic implications for both the effectiveness and stability of deterrence. How might the United States prepare for the potential risks? Read more »

Illustration by traffic_analyzer/Getty Images Competition and Restraint in Cyberspace Recent years have seen a mounting concern in the United States over foreign efforts to harm election security or legitimacy through cyber means, an increase in cyber espionage, and attacks of growing sophistication. How could international norms help constrain such destabilizing behavior in cyberspace? Read more »

Photo by Blue Planet Studio/Adobe Stock Exploring Ways to Regulate and Build Trust in Artificial Intelligence Researchers synthesized evidence on the use of labeling initiatives, codes of conduct, and other voluntary, self-regulatory mechanisms for the ethical and safe development of artificial intelligence systems. Read more »

Images by petrovv and soulcld/Getty Images; design by Rick Penn-Kraus/RAND Corporation Social Media Can Provide Insights About Chemical Weapons Incidents Social media can be collected instantly, can tap into a massive pool of observers, and is remotely accessible. Researchers developed a new approach for analyzing social media data to derive insights about chemical incidents. They used chemical weapons employment in Syria as a test case. Read more »

Blog Posts

Photo by Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/Alamy Tracking Migration Amid War and Disease Researchers from RAND and RAND Europe have been working on a way to better track migrant numbers, country by country and state by state, in almost real time. They do it by tapping into one of the largest information-gathering operations on the planet, Facebook. Read more »

Photo by RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency/Alexander Vilf via Reuters Russian Cyberattacks May Be Coming. What Might Be an Optimal Strategy for Responding? Russia appears poised to make a first move against the United States and its allies in cyberspace. A savvy U.S. response that is deliberately measured and accompanied by the right message could end this fight after the first round. Read more »

Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Preparing for a Cyberattack Starts at the Local Level The ongoing Russian war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for federal, state, and local level emergency managers to prepare to respond to a cyberattack with widespread impacts that significantly disrupt critical infrastructure. Read more »

Photo by Janis Laizans/Reuters Keeping Russians Informed About Ukraine Could Help End This War Russia has taken increasingly aggressive actions to restrict access of information about the war in Ukraine. Ensuring that the Russian people know the truth about what their government is doing in Ukraine could bring this war to an end soon rather than later. Read more »

Image by Alyson Youngblood/RAND Corporation What You Can Do to Help Stop Truth Decay Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts in American public life, isn't a problem that any one person can fix. But there are simple steps that individuals can take to help counter it. Read more »

Photo by designer491/Getty Images Algorithms Teach Us Why Equity Is Hard If all the shortcomings of humanity were stripped away, equity would still be an elusive goal for algorithms for reasons that have more to do with mathematical impossibilities than backward ideologies. But even if attaining equity is fundamentally difficult, seeking it is not futile. Read more »

Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network via Reuters National Wastewater Tracking Could Help Us Stay Ahead of COVID-19—but Congress Cut the Funds For years, medical experts have used wastewater to track the spread of diseases. The National Wastewater Surveillance System has the potential to significantly change the way we fight COVID-19 as well as future pandemics, bacterial diseases, and viruses. But building up the robustness of a wastewater surveillance system will take financial support, and it's not clear Congress will provide it. Read more »

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