Cyber emergencies and national defence: lessons from the US

[أعماق المحيط]

In May 2019, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in cyberspace citing threats to the country’s critical infrastructure. It was the third such declaration by a US President in four years.

At this IISS event, Dr Lior Tabansky and Dr Greg Austin will present the conclusions of recently published research that details how well the US has aligned its national security policy to the protection of critical infrastructure, especially in a national cyber emergency.

Dr Tabansky will address the gap between the organisation of military forces in the United States and the civil defence needs that Trump has identified. He sees the gap as part of a pattern where Western armed forces do not defend their homeland targets against foreign cyber attacks. He argues that this ‘defence anomaly’ is the cause of the profound cyber insecurity in the West.

Dr Austin will trace the evolution of US policy for cyber civil defence over the two decades since the Hardt Rudman Commission recommended the creation of a Homeland Security Agency in 2001 – just months before the September 11 terrorist attacks. After those attacks, the department took on new national-level responsibilities for cyber security to protect critical infrastructure. Austin will also detail the emergence in recent years of the concept of a nationally ‘significant cyber incident’, the development of detailed plans for such incidents, and the declaration of the three national emergencies by successive presidents of different political parties.

Dr Austin’s presentation will highlight the persistent difficulties the US has faced in matching its preparedness to its escalating view of the threats. This gap and the resulting insecurity has pushed the US to challenge the viability of global regimes for telecommunications, trans-border investment, and technology transfers.

Both presentations are based on research published in National Cyber Emergencies: The Return to Civil Defence (Routledge 2020). The book will be launched at the seminar.

Dr Lior Tabansky is Head of Research Development for the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Centre at Tel Aviv University. His career offers a unique cybersecurity grasp, combining academic research in security studies, 15 years of IT-professional work and business experience in formulating national and corporate cyber strategies. Dr Tabansky has analysed critical infrastructure protection and national cyber strategy of Singapore, Israel and the United States.

Dr Greg Austin is Senior Fellow for Cyber, Space and Future Conflict at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He concurrently holds a Professorial post with the University of New South Wales in Canberra. Greg is a member of the Advisory Board for the Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research. He has published two books on cyber policy in China (2014 and 2018). His other publications include five books on Asian security affairs (four are on China), each with a strong interdisciplinary focus, and one additional edited volume on energy security.

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