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.”
Priscilla Moriuchi is the Head of Nation-state Research and Principal Analyst at Recorded Future and a non-resident fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. .
Ms. Moriuchi is an expert on state-sponsored cyber operations and Asia Pacific regional and cyber threats, and is a widely published researcher and commentator on national and cyber on national and cyber security issues. Her cutting-edge research on China, Russia, and North Korea has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and many others. Prior to Recorded Future, Ms. Moriuchi spent 12 years at the National Security Agency, most recently as the Enduring Threat Manager and top subject matter expert on East Asia and Pacific (EAP) cyber threats.