Research Portfolio Post #1: Research Interests

My primary research interest involves cyber security norms on the world stage. In particular, I am interested in the complex issue of cyber attribution. Attribution involves discerning the cause of a cyber-attack in order to carry out repercussions on the true attacker. There is a need to address the question of attribution due to the increase in cyber-attacks, and the implications these attacks have on executing foreign policy.

Cyber attribution offers interesting challenges when engaging with global actors which is why I am keen to research this topic. The article “Stateless Attribution: Toward International Accountability in Cyberspace”¹ discusses some of the difficulties of attributing cyber-attacks to nations and non-state actors, but more work is needed in categorizing the qualifications to make a credible attribution. The authors of this article also highlight some of the most recent and high-profile cyber-attacks that involved state actors, and then propose the need for an international institution to address the issue of attribution in order to mitigate the difficulties.

In my initial look at the scholarly articles involving cyber attribution, a few articles have brought up the need for an international institution. I am interested to know how many scholars have proposed this idea, whether the ideas are similar, whether the proposed composition is feasible, or whether works has been done to create an international institution. Cyber attribution and the need for an international institution offers one route of perplexing research.

There has also been research on the evolving cyber norms between actors, but there more explanation is needed on state interactions and cyber attribution. For example, in the article “Is it Time to Institutionalize cyber-attribution”² the authors conclude their analysis by asking further research queries such as “How do geopolitical rivalries undermine the confidence placed in attribution?” This question offers a provoking puzzle within this field of study. It would be interesting to do a survey on how different pairings or groupings of countries deal with cyber attribution and whether there is correlation between the states attempt to deal with attribution and the historic foreign policies and relations on non-cyber related issues.

Overall, cyber attribution offers a bundle of questions to be explained. In broader terms, cyber itself merits research because of the many ways in which it impacts state and non-state actors. The way in which the world views cyber is dictated by the ways in which researchers explain it; thus, warranting my academic and personal interest in the subject.

¹ Davis, John, Boudreaux, Benjamin, Welburn, Jonathan, Aguirre, Jair, Ogletree, Cordaye, Mcgovern, Geoffrey, and Chase, Michael. “Stateless Attribution: Toward International Accountability in Cyberspace.” RAND Corporation, (2 June 2017)

² Badii, Farzaneh. “Is it Time to Institutionalize Cyber Attribution?,” Internet Governance Project, August 21, 2018, https://www.internetgovernance.org/2018/08/21/new-igp-white-paper-is-it-time-to-institutionalize-cyber-attribution/ (Accessed: 1 September 2018)