The Cyber Deterrence Problem

What is the role of deterrence in an age where adept hackers can credibly hold strategic assets at risk? Do conventional frameworks of deterrence maintain their applicability and meaning against state actors in cyberspace? Is it possible demonstrate credibility with either in-domain or cross-domain signaling or is cyberspace fundamentally ill-suited to the application of deterrence frameworks? Building on concepts from both rational deterrence theory and cognitive theories of deterrence this work attempts to leverage relevant examples from both within and beyond cyberspace to examine applicability of deterrence in the digital age and for digital tools in an effort to shift the conversation from Atoms to Bits and Bytes.