Examining Impacts, Challenges and Next Steps for Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Cyber Environment (abstract title)

As the global community becomes more reliant on interconnected tools, processes, and systems, they simultaneously become more vulnerable to cyber threats. Many nonproliferation agencies are ill-equipped to face the emerging cyber challenges confronting their organizations, either due to human capital, the scale and scope of cyber threats, or the international nature of their organization. While nonproliferation agencies are not unique in their cyber challenges, they find themselves in a precarious position because threats to an agency’s critical digital assets and sensitive technical data may also pose threats to the international nonproliferation regime. In this work, the authors provide an overview of the cyber security environment, present ideas for assessing cyber threats to critical digital assets, and recommend areas of near-term research needs based on their findings.