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.”
Biography
Janice Shelsta is a former non-resident fellow with the Belfer Center’s Cyber Project and the Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P). Her work focuses on the intersection of democracy, cybersecurity, and technology in the context of international relations and national security. She currently leads cybersecurity and technology adoption efforts within the U.S. Federal government. Previously, Janice led data and information technology initiatives for the U.S. financial regulatory community and co-founded a Health IT consultancy. Janice holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Brown University.
Last Updated: Sep 17, 2021, 3:12pm