The virtual seminar will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (E.T.)
Scholars and governments have tended to see cyberspace as a new arena for warfare and coercive practices, leading to the concepts of cyberwar and deterrence as foundations of cyber strategy. This presentation will introduce the central arguments and logic behind cyber persistence theory as an alternative perspective for how states act in cyber space, with sustained campaigns intended to produce cumulative impacts over time as a form of strategic competition. It will introduce the concepts of strategic environments, cyber fait accompli, direct cyber engagement, and agreed competition and situate them within international relations theory and security studies.
About the speaker: Michael Fischerkeller is a senior researcher in the Information, Technology, and Systems Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses. He is the co-author (with Emily O. Goldman and Richard J. Harknett) of Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining National Security in Cyberspace (2022), and some of these arguments are discussed in the co-authored article, Persistent Engagement in Cyberspace Is a Strategic Imperative.