The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Cynthia Saddy is a former senior executive with the Central Intelligence Agency, where she held numerous leadership positions including the Directorate of Operation’s Chief Technology Officer (Acting and Deputy), Senior Advisor to In-Q-Tel, Chief of Staff to the Director of Operations, and as a two time Division Chief of Operations responsible for leading large-scale HUMINT and technical programs across multiple geographic regions.
EunJoo “EJ” Alam is a retired senior national security executive with over 30 years of government service. She has led clandestine operations, tradecraft, counterintelligence, information security, and intelligence collection efforts for the CIA. Her senior assignments include three time field commander in the former Soviet Union, East Asia, and South Asia; Chief of Operations for Iran Mission Center, Deputy Chief China Department in East Asia Pacific Mission Center, and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director for Operations.
Kelli Holden retired as a senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) executive with over 28 years of experience in intelligence operations. Concluding her career as Counterintelligence Chief of Operations for CIA, she served in numerous field command and Washington-based leadership positions driving complex HUMINT and technical programs across geographic regions, including high threat and high counterintelligence environments.