Active Cyber Defense: Enhancing National Cyber Defense

With increased dependency on the Internet, cyber attacks are fast becoming an attractive option for state adversaries, in part because of the ease of hiding ones identity. In response, governments around the world are taking measures to improve their national cyber defenses. However, these defenses, which are generally passive in nature, have been insufficient to address the threat. This thesis explores the possibility of employing active cyber defenses to improve cyber defenses at the national level. Active cyber defense refers to the use of offensive actions, such as counter hacking, pre-emptive hacking, etc., to defend against cyber attacks. This thesis studies the typologies of active cyber defense and examines how this approach can enhance a states cyber defense posture.