Paul Marin, Columnist
Ideology: Liberal Republican | Writing from: George Washington University

Today, China could send the United States back to the 18th century without firing a single missile. According to several unclassified reports cited by the New York Times describing a simulation conducted earlier this month by the Pentagon, the United States is currently incapable of defending itself against a cyberattacks targeting its power grid, communication systems, and financial networks. Although an attack of such apocalyptic proportions is — at least momentarily, unlikely — smaller scale, yet very damaging cyber attacks against the US have been mounted or sponsored by the Chinese government. Examples of successful attacks include the Chinese cyber espionage of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter program, of the State Department’s East Asia Bureau, of the presidential campaigns of President Obama and of Senator John McCain, and perhaps the 2003 blackout of the East Coast. Moreover, as the recent attack on Google’s servers and the brutal censorship of its internet users show, China’s online wrath is not only targeted against America’s strategic infrastructure, but also against any entity that does not fully submit to its will, including its own citizens.

Given the magnitude of the threat at hand, the United States cannot risk being caught off guard in future cyberconflicts. But defending against a cyberattack is much more difficult than it would originally appear. First of all, a timely identification of an attacker is problematic because proxy servers enable attackers remain stealthy for extended periods of time. Second, immediate retaliation designed to neutralize an attacker appears virtually impossible. Attacks do not have to be generated from single locations like military bases. An intelligent foe would use a Trojan Horse-type software to turn the computers of millions of innocent worldwide users into a launching pad for cyberwarfare. And third, as a result of these tactical realities concerning cyberwarfare, producing conclusive evidence to shame attackers is both technologically difficult and politically ineffective — China has dismissed all the accusations of engaging in cyberwarfare and resumed its belligerent ways.

So how should then the United States defend itself on a battlefield tilted in the favor of the aggressor? Some suggest that the United States shield itself with a strong nationwide internet firewall as well as closely monitor the internet the way it currently oversees its airspace. Beyond the technological ineffectiveness of enacting such proposals — Chinese hackers managed to get through Google’s and Lockheed Martin’s sophisticated defense mechanisms — such a solution would be politically unfeasible. Americans not only view the internet as inalienably free and open but are also staunch defenders of their civil liberties. Moreover, such a solution would go against the principles outlined in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent speech on internet freedom. Another strategy proposes a tit-for-tat deterrence policy vis-à-vis the Chinese. Under this view, the United States should use its own hackers to turn off the lights in Beijing for a few minutes as a way to reassert its online powers as retaliation for the next Chinese attack. However, such a strategy is short-sighted. It would not only enable the Chinese to undermine the moral high ground the United State currently claims in cyberspace but would also legitimize future Chinese aggression.

As a result, the United States should pursue a cyber defense strategy resting on two pillars: a strong self-defense and asserting its own capability of crippling Chinese activity through the internet.  To defend its citizens and companies, the United States should create a voluntary internet defense umbrella for its citizens and companies that does not trample on civil and economic freedoms. And to assert is cyber power, the US should stage a retaliatory attack against a high level Chinese target. The US must chose its target carefully enough so that the Chinese would be too embarrassed to admit that they have been hacked, and, therefore, prevent them from publically shaming the US for retaliating. For example, the US could draw a smiley face for five minutes on the radars of the Chinese Air Force’s control towers. To emphasize its power and the non-offensive nature of this attack, the US could even warn the Chinese. Such an American response would be similar to the Cold War nuclear testing policies — when the Soviet Union would conduct a nuclear or missile test, the US would respond by showcasing its new and more powerful weaponry.

The United States cannot afford to be unprepared in the face of the new decade’s online threats. The internet, despite its unprecedented economic benefits and despite its unique ability to foster global friendship and cooperation, also serves as a strategic Achilles’ heel for the United States. America uses the internet for everything. Without a functioning internet connection, America cannot control its electrical grid, its telecommunication towers, its bank accounts, and its invincible fighter jets. And without those, America is practically wiped off the map.