City Research Online

Abstract

Nuclear deterrence based on mutual assured destruction seems to have successfully prevented a global nuclear war for decades. Can deterrence be effective for cyber attacks between nation-states? The cyber environment is drastically different from the nuclear case. A major difference is the possibility of different perceptions by the states which may lead to a failure of cyber deterrence. In this paper, we compare differences between nuclear deterrence and cyber deterrence. We adapt a game theoretic model from the nuclear case to the cyber environment and show that differences in perceived payoffs can lead to attack strategies where deterrence fails in cyberspace.

Publication Type:	Article
Publisher Keywords:	Cyber security; deterrence theory; cyber deterrence; game theory; cyber defense
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Engineering

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