WASHINGTON \u2014 The Biden administration in its highly anticipated cyber strategy pledged to use \u201call instruments of national power\u201d to disrupt and dismantle malicious cyber actors near and far, while also promising to invigorate international relationships, including with nations previously untapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strategy, rolled out March 2 after much buzz and speculation within the cybersecurity community, describes the digital domain<\/a> the world has become reliant upon as a reflection of its users and its architects \u2014 and one that needs protecting, even if it means upheaval in the short-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe must make fundamental changes to the underlying dynamics of the digital ecosystem, shifting the advantage to its defenders and perpetually frustrating the forces that would threaten it,\u201d it reads. \u201cOur goal is a defensible, resilient digital ecosystem where it is costlier to attack systems than defend them, where sensitive or private information is secure and protected, and where neither incidents nor errors cascade into catastrophic, systemic consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The document, more than two-dozen pages and spanning five \u201cpillars,\u201d is colored by Russia\u2019s latest invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, which days ago ground past its bloody one-year anniversary. It specifically calls out China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other autocratic states for alleged \u201creckless disregard for the rule of law and human rights in cyberspace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Russia-Ukraine war, so far killing more than 8,000 civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops, according to the U.N. human rights office, has been punctuated by cyber paroxysms, including an early-days assault on Viasat, a California-based satellite specialist and defense contractor, meant to cripple command and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\t