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.”
POSITIVE RSVP ONLINE ONLY:
http://belfercenter.org/events/knake.html
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will host a Director's Lunch with Rob Knake, Senior Fellow for Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, in the Belfer Center Library (L369).
Rob Knake is a Senior Fellow for Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. His work focuses on Internet Governance, public-private partnerships, and cyber conflict.
Rob served from 2011 to 2015 as Director for Cybersecurity Policy at the National Security Council. In this role, he was responsible for the development of Presidential policy on cybersecurity, and built and managed Federal processes for cyber incident response and vulnerability management. Federal Computer Week dubbed him the “White House’s Cyber Wizard” for his work on Executive Order 13636 on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, which directed the creation of the National Institute of Standards & Technology Cybersecurity Framework. He worked to establish Presidential policy that created the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center and Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations.
Before joining government, Rob was an International Affairs Fellow-in-Residence at the Council on Foreign Relations where he completed the manuscript for Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It and authored the Council Special Report Internet Governance in an Age of Cyberinsecurity. He has testified before Congress on the problem of attribution in cyberspace and written and lectured extensively on cybersecurity policy.
Rob is an Adjunct Lecturer at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and undergraduate degrees in history and government from Connecticut College and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
As space is limited for this event, RSVPs will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Belfer Center Lunches are strictly off-the-record. By requesting to attend the lunch, you agree that you will comply with the Belfer Center's strict policy against recording or disclosing the contents of the lunch. Your access is conditioned on your compliance with these restrictions. Should you violate these rules, the Center will pursue all available legal options and you will be excluded from all future events.