5 May 2022

How Cyber Restraint Makes Us All Safer

Brandon Valeriano

At a broad, strategic level, restraint emphasizes doing less with less; protecting a narrow set of core interests in ways that respect the limits of power. In cyberspace, restraint pushes back against the inevitability of an offensively dominated “cyberwar” and seeks to avoid spirals of escalation and threat inflation.

Cyber restraint seeks to reduce the impact of digital harm through preventative measures such as target hardening and resilience to improve defense and foster stability. Restraint hopes to avoid the offensive cyber operations that are likely to spiral and harm civilians. Rather, focusing on building internal capacity, improving international communication, and creating more domestic and international defensive partnerships will allow the United States to avoid triggering the disasters often predicted in cyberspace and ensure its own stability.

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