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Cyber Warfare

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Cyber warfare involves the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation's computers or information networks through, for example, computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks. RAND research provides recommendations to military and civilian decisionmakers on methods of defending against the damaging effects of cyber warfare on a nation's digital infrastructure.

Report
Response Options to Cyberattacks 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?
Apr 29, 2022
Report
Russia's Information Warfare with the West
Popular portrayals of the Russian disinformation machine imply an organized and well-resourced operation, but evidence suggests that it is neither. Nonetheless, Russian social media activity can be harmful to U.S. interests and is likely to evolve.
Jun 7, 2022

Explore Cyber Warfare

Report
Chinese Next-Generation Psychological Warfare
China is interested in both advanced computing and brain science to expand and improve its psychological warfare capabilities. How might this affect U.S.-China dynamics in peacetime competition, crisis, and conflict?
Jun 1, 2023
Report
Alternative Futures Following a Great Power War: Volume 1, Scenarios, Findings, and Recommendations
RAND researchers generated four plausible near-term great power war scenarios and assessed how they could shape the postwar strategic environment.
May 9, 2023
Research Brief
The Aftermath of a Great Power War
A review of historical great power wars shows that prewar predictions about who would fight, how long the war would last, and how the world would look afterward were often wrong. It's important to understand what the outcomes of different conflicts could look like and how to better prepare for them.
May 9, 2023
Commentary
Consequences of the War in Ukraine: Escalation
If Russian forces remain unable to defeat Ukraine, and Putin remains unwilling to back down, what escalation options does Russia have left?
Feb 27, 2023
Journal Article
Exploring Chinese Thinking on Deterrence in the Not-So-New Space and Cyber Domains
This conference volume chapter explores evolving Chinese thinking on space and cyber deterrence. Besides nuclear deterrence, the space and cyber domains are viewed by China as its main means of strategic deterrence.
Feb 21, 2023
Report
Russia's Evolution Toward a Unified Strategic Operation: The Influence of Geography and Conventional Capacity
In this report, RAND researchers examine the reasons behind Russia's evolution toward a unified strategic operation, as well as the capabilities that would be necessary to execute key conventional offensive tasks in such an operation.
Feb 13, 2023
Report
A Cost Estimating Framework for U.S. Marine Corps Joint Cyber Weapons
To help improve leadership decisionmaking related to the costs of offensive cyber operations acquisition, the authors developed a life-cycle cost-estimating framework for the U.S. Marine Corps and conducted exploratory modeling and simulation.
Feb 2, 2023
Report
The Role of Information in U.S. Concepts for Strategic Competition
Gray zone activities—acts of aggression that remain below the threshold of war—can be used to gain an edge in great-power competition. How can the information environment support U.S. responses to these activities?
Oct 25, 2022
Journal Article
Information Warfare: Methods to Counter Disinformation
We consider the nature of disinformation and its use in the hybrid warfare domain, before examining the problem through frames of planning approach, truth theory, systems thinking, and military strategy.
Sep 8, 2022
Report
The Risks of North Korean Weapons of Mass Destruction
In addition to its nuclear weapons, North Korea has amassed chemical, biological, and electromagnetic pulse weapons. It has also created an active cyber hacker force. What can the United States and South Korea do to deter and, if necessary, counter these threats?
Aug 29, 2022
Journal Article
Cyber Deterrence with Imperfect Attribution and Unverifiable Signaling
Examines a game of deterrence in which the defender can signal its retaliatory capability but can only imperfectly attribute an attack. We show that there are equilibria in which the defender sends noisy signals to increase its expected payoff.
Jul 25, 2022
Report
Planning for Significant Cyber Incidents: An Introduction for Decisionmakers
This report describes contingency planning for a significant cyber incident, focusing on the importance of planning, the process of developing a plan, and options for operationalizing it. It summarizes a companion how-to guide by the same authors.
Jun 27, 2022
Report
Managing Response to Significant Cyber Incidents: Comparing Event Life Cycles and Incident Response Across Cyber and Non-Cyber Events
This report examines U.S. structures and processes for non-cyber emergency management and whether U.S. officials can learn from these other incidents to help public and private sector stakeholders improve preparations for response to cyber incidents.
May 12, 2022
Blog
How Data Can Help Refugees, Homelessness in L.A., Harm Reduction: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on tapping into Facebook data to help refugees, addressing homelessness in Los Angeles, understanding burnout among health care providers, and more.
May 6, 2022
Blog
Responding to Russian Cyberattacks, Rebuilding Ukraine, Climate Change: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on how the U.S. could respond to Russian cyberattacks, what it will take to rebuild Ukraine after the war, why U.S. employers still have the power over workers, and more.
Apr 22, 2022
Commentary
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.
Apr 18, 2022
Commentary
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.
Apr 14, 2022
Commentary
Don't Sleep on Russian Information War Capabilities
Ukraine looks to have Russia beat in countering Russian disinformation. But this is only part of the story. Instead of fixating on Russia's missteps, policymakers and analysts would benefit from studying Ukraine's sophisticated information campaign while bearing in mind that Russia retains significant information warfare capabilities and a willingness to use them.
Apr 5, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Cyber Warfare

Topic Synonyms:
Computer Warfare;
Cyberwar

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Joe Uchill

M.Phil. Student, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Joe Uchill (he/him) is an M.Phil. student at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. He comes to RAND after nearly a decade as a cybersecurity reporter for outlets including Axios, The Hill and Motherboard. Prior to that, he had a brief stint in an applied…
Sina Beaghley

Senior International/Defense Researcher

Sina Beaghley is a senior international/defense policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on national security policy including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber strategy, personnel and security clearance vetting, and surveillance policy and privacy. She also…

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