There is a constant need to label cyber operations as “cyber ${battle from history}.” The most recent one, indeed the one that inspired me to write about this phenomenon, is the spectacularly insane “cyber Cuban missile crisis.” The exact quote is from some fraudulent “cyber security experts” apparently:
Experts are telling me that the solar winds hack and subsequent cyber attack is a cyber Cuban missile crisis moment.
Experts are telling me that the solar winds hack and subsequent cyber attack is a cyber Cuban missile crisis moment. https://t.co/E6WfrU8RjA
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) December 18, 2020
The less stupid take is usually “cyber Pearl Harbor,” which is still a poor example because it is used to suggest a sort of Kung Fu film “train hard and get revenge” strategy. My alternative: “cyber drunken master 3” was rejected without, I feel, due consideration.
Now the thing is, Cyber Pearl Harbor can actually be a useful analogy if viewed from a certain perspective. I’ve elaborated below, on that along with some other “cyber $battles”:
Cyber Pearl Harbor: catches you totally off guard. Strategic surprise leading to scary and embarrassing losses. This event causes a resolute spur to action and the necessary resources are invested as best as possible until the underlying situation is resolved.
Cyber Hill 814: just another day slogging through the usual cyber events. A traumatic and hectic time where everything is on fire and terrible. Eventually it is over and you realise that nothing has really changed, except now everyone has more scars and war stories. You’re reminded that this is unwinnable the way we’re fighting it and the metrics we use are stupid and perverse.
Cyber Chosin Reservoir: you are understaffed, short on budget and tools, and there is no doubt that an attack is “when” not “if.” The best you can hope for from success is the opportunity to do the whole thing again, but in a worse situation with even less support. How you aren’t just wiped from existence makes no sense to you, but one day at a time and hope the cavalry arrives.
Cyber Tet Offensive: a tactical and strategic victory. The opposition is crushed and ceases to exist as a coherent force in anything but name. Their every strategic objective a failure, and their theories and stratagems proven invalid in the face of reality. Despite this you lose at the grand strategy level, as the support for your side evaporates. Your conflict is over, it is just a matter of time.
Well… maybe we don’t need to worry about that last one just yet. Although I think it might be related to ransomware a bit?
Leave a Reply