Why You Shouldn’t Believe the Cyber‐​War Hype

Constantine von Hoffman explains it on CIO.com:

Cyber war is not what the Chinese currently appear to be up to. That’s called spying. If you doubt it consider what Rep. Mike Rogers, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on one of those talk shows that no one outside of D.C. watches:

"They use their military and intelligence structure to [steal] intellectual property from American businesses, and European businesses, and Asian businesses, repurpose it and then compete in the international market against the United States."

If stealing secrets is an act of war then America is currently at war with all of its allies.

That's some crisp contrarianism, and I like the dig at D.C.'s self-importance.

At around the time I was reading this article yesterday, an email arrived in my inbox touting an upcoming book event on "Cyber Warfare: How Conflicts in Cyberspace Are Challenging America and Changing the World."

Oh, there's no shortage of challenges laid before all actors trying to secure computers, networks, and data, but don't mistake the number of vulnerabilities or threats with the likelihood they will manifest themselves, or the consequence if they do. The "cyberwar" frame is inapt, and looking at cybersecurity through a geopolitical lens is not likely to produce policies that cost-effectively protect our wealth and values.