Arms Control for a Cyberage

[Commentary] A recently disclosed document from the National Security Agency about the escalation of cyberattacks between the United States and Iran presents a chilling summary of how swiftly cyberwarfare developed from the first salvos against Iran’s nuclear program a few years ago to a full-fledged cyberarms race. The attacks and counterattacks grew in scope, it shows, even as the United States and its Western partners tried to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, fostering the sense that doomsday bombs of the past were being supplanted by futuristic weapons far easier to develop and deploy, yet with enormous potential for destruction. Cyberwarfare has already done considerable damage and can lead to devastating consequences.

The best way forward is to accelerate international efforts to negotiate limits on the cyberarms race, akin to the arms-control treaties of the Cold War. Barring that, there are few viable ways to bring these new weapons and their use under control.