A Vulnerability-Based Model of Cyber Weapons and its Implications for Cyber Conflict

Abstract

Throughout history, mankind has developed and employed novel weapons and countermeasures. Both offensive and defensive weapon systems are limited by the laws of nature. Consequently, military concepts and doctrines were designed by implicitly taking into account those limitations. The digital age has introduced a new class of weaponry that poses an initial challenge to the common understanding of conflict and warfare due to their different characteristics: cyber weapons. This article explores the crucial differences between the conventional weapon and cyber weapon domains, starting a debate as to what extent classical concepts and doctrines are applicable to cyberspace and cyber conflict. The authors propose a definition of cyber weapons being an instrument consisting primarily of data and knowledge, presenting them in the form of prepared and executed computer codes on or a sequence of user interactions with a vulnerable system. The authors describe a vulnerability-based model for cyber weapons and for cyber defence. This model is then applied to describe the relationship between cyber-capable actors (e.g. States). The proposed model clarifies important implications for cyber coalition-building and disarmament. Furthermore, it presents a general solution for the problem of the destruction of cyber weapons, i.e., in the context of cyber arms control.