The United States’ Cyber Warfare History: Implications on Modern Cyber Operational Structures and Policymaking

This article will touch upon two main components of the United States’ cybersphere and cyber warfare. First, it will review three cyber incidents during different time periods, as the US infrastructure, mechanisms, and policies were gradually evolving. It will analyze the conceptual, operational, and legislative evolution that led to the current decision-making paradigm and institutional structure of the US cybersphere. Secondly, the paper will examine the procedures and policies of the Intelligence Community (IC), and the US cyber operational structure. It will review the missions and background of the IC and its responsibilities before, during, and after a cyberattack, and will touch upon the IC’s organizational architecture. The paper will also briefly review the current cyber threats in the United States and will elaborate on some of the fundamental strategies and policies that it uses to provide a suitable response. Lastly, it  analyzes the cybersphere’s macro-level, addressing the data coordination of the IC’s agencies, as well as the federal, state, and private sector institutions during a cyber crisis.