In a very short time, individuals and companies have harnessed cyberspace to create new industries, a vibrant social space, and a new economic sphere that are intertwined with our everyday lives. At the same time, individuals, subnational groups, and governments are using cyberspace to advance interests through malicious activity. Terrorists recruit, train, and target through the Internet, hackers steal data, and intelligence services conduct espionage. Still, the vast majority of cyberspace is civilian space used by individuals, businesses, and governments for legitimate purposes.

Cyberspace and National Security brings together scholars, policy analysts, and information technology executives to examine current and future threats to cyberspace. They discuss various approaches to advance and defend national interests, contrast the US approach with European, Russian, and Chinese approaches, and offer new ways and means to defend interests in cyberspace and develop offensive capabilities to compete there. Policymakers and strategists will find this book to be an invaluable resource in their efforts to ensure national security and answer concerns about future cyberwarfare.

This fifth edition in the International Engagement on Cyber series focuses on securing critical infrastructure. The centrality of critical infrastructure in the Obama administration’s recent cybersecurity initiatives demonstrates the timeliness of this topic for greater review and scholarly input. In this manner, articles in this issue uncover the role and extent of international law and norms, public-private cooperation, as well as novel ways of conceptualizing ‘security’ in efforts to improve critical infrastructure cybersecurity. Other pieces provide case studies on the telecommunications, power, and energy sectors to generate an in-depth understanding of specific responses to security concerns in different infrastructure areas.

Additional contributions examine regulatory activities in cyberspace, the potential value of cryptocurrency, the evolution of cloud computing, cybersecurity in Brazil, as well as the integration of cyber in the military strategies of Russia, China, and the United States. The diversity of these topics demonstrates the Journal’s continued commitment to pursuing the myriad facets that compromise the field of cyber.

Please note, this special issue is not included in the subscription to the journal.