Summary

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Source: Gemini AI Overview – 11/6/2025

1. Attribution Difficulty: Identifying the true perpetrator of a cyberattack is extremely difficult, as attackers use sophisticated techniques like proxy servers and third-party systems to mask their origin. This ambiguity complicates retaliation and diplomatic responses.
2. Lack of International Norms and Laws: Cyberspace is a relatively new domain of conflict with no universally accepted international rules or norms governing state behavior, leading to legal ambiguities and an “ad hoc” approach to cybersecurity.
3. Protection of Critical Infrastructure: Modern society is highly dependent on interconnected critical infrastructure (power grids, financial networks, transportation, etc.), which presents a vast and vulnerable attack surface for state-sponsored actors aiming to cause widespread disruption and chaos.
4. Rapidly Evolving Technology: The speed of technological advancement (e.g., AI, quantum computing) outpaces the ability of defense systems and legal frameworks to adapt, creating a never-ending race between attackers developing new methods and defenders trying to patch vulnerabilities.
5. AI-Powered Threats and Deepfakes: Malicious actors increasingly leverage artificial intelligence to automate attacks, craft convincing social engineering campaigns, and generate deepfakes for disinformation campaigns, making them highly effective and difficult to detect.
6. The Cybersecurity Skills Gap: There is a severe global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals, which means many organizations and governments struggle to implement and manage robust defense strategies against modern, sophisticated threats.
7. Blurring Lines Between War and Peace: Cyberattacks can range from low-level espionage to highly destructive acts, making it difficult to determine what constitutes an act of war and how to respond without unintentionally escalating a conflict into a broader physical confrontation.
8. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: Compromising a single trusted supplier can grant access to numerous target organizations, as demonstrated by the SolarWinds attack. Securing these complex, interconnected supply chains is a major challenge.
9. Non-State Actors and Asymmetry: The relatively low cost of entry into cyber warfare means that non-state actors (terrorist groups, criminal organizations, hacktivists) can challenge even powerful nations, complicating traditional deterrence models that focus on state-to-state conflict.
10. Human Error and Social Engineering: Despite advanced technical defenses, human error remains a primary cause of breaches. Phishing and social engineering attacks exploit human trust, making ongoing user education and vigilance a continuous and difficult challenge.