
Bruce Schneier: We need ‘cyberwar hotlines’ to match nuclear hotlines - strawberryshake
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/security/3251799/bruce-schneier-we-need-cyberwar-hotlines-to-match-nuclear-hotlines/?cmpid=sbycombinatoranguyen
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iuguy
Wow. I hope that's not what he actually wrote. If it is, and I realise it's a
quote taken out of context then it's quite possibly one of the dumbest things
I've ever heard him say.

Nuclear hotlines work because there's a certain established protocol for
nuclear weapons. Due to Mutually Assured Destruction no-one (at least no-one
using hotlines) really wants to start the first strike because it will result
in annihilation. Therefore there's a vested interest in having the hotlines to
avoid accidentally starting World War III.

With Cyberwar (and I'm referring to Computer Network Attack, not Computer
Network Exploitation or espionage) there's no clear cut definition of what it
actually _is_. Cyberwar means different things to different people in the same
room, let alone different things to different people with different military
structures and doctrines.

CNA is a very exploratory field at the moment, partly because no-one really
understands the structure or boundaries and partly because it isn't
necessarily contained to a theatre of operations. Add to that the fact that it
is extremely cheap (by comparison) to mount cyber attacks (i.e. any fool and a
laptop can do it) and the rules of engagement for cyber warfare become murkier
than ever.

So to conclude, no I don't think we need cyberwar hotlines, at least until
there's a broad military consensus on what cyberwar is, from which people can
determine what type of communications they would need for such actions.

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strawberryshake
I think he's just saying that cyberwar should be taken as seriously as nuclear
war...though I agree I do feel he may be exaggerating for effect.

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iuguy
_If_ that's what he's saying then he should just stop talking until he knows
more about the subject matter, but I don't think that's what he's saying.

