Toward Cyber Omniscience

It is widely accepted that cyberspace is a vulnerable and highly contested environment. The United Sates has and will face threats to its national security in the realm. As a result, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has decided to consider new and evolving theories of deterrence to address the cyber domain. This OSD-sponsored paper examines a new cyberspace deterrence option know as cyber omniscience. Set in the year 2035, this paper will begin the process of developing the theory of cyber omniscience as a DoD deterrent. At the heart of cyber deterrence lays this question: "As technology rapidly advances in the contested cyber domain, can hostile individuals be deterred from employing highly advanced technologies through cyberspace that threaten national survival?" To answer this question, this paper will investigate a number of issues with regard to cyberspace deterrence: anticipated life (societal norms) and technology in 2035, hostile individual threats, what cyber omniscience entails, privacy issues, and policy recommendations. This multi-pronged approach will serve as the catalyst to a better understanding of the future of cyberspace, the threats, and deterrence.