Initiative Persistence and the Consequence for Cyber Norms

In a useful thought experiment considering the implications of other cyber powers adopting the approach of “defend forward” and “persistent engagement,” Herb Lin focuses on the potential impact on cyber norms. He suggests that, to best support the U.S. Department of State effort to establish international cyber norms, U.S. Cyber Command’s (CYBERCOM’s) 2018 Command Vision should be explicit in how it does or, at least, does not violate those norms. This is a curious recommendation that seems to be rooted in a belief that “the USCC Command Vision articulates what the United States believes Cyber Command should be doing in cyberspace”—but that is not the purpose of the vision. Additionally, Lin’s post indirectly raises the far more important matter of the respective roles of the State Department and the U.S. Department of Defense in creating cyber norms of acceptable and unacceptable cyber behavior. Richard Harknett and I have argued elsewhere, and I will revisit and update the argument here, that although the State Department plays an indispensable role, the Department of

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