Strategic cyber deterrence (SCD) is increasingly attracting efforts and attention as a means to ensure stability of the cyber space, as proved by the interest of NATO, Red Cross, the UN, the UK government, and the USA in this topic. However, deploying conventional deterrence strategies, like retaliation, within the cyber domain proves highly problematic because of the anonymity, the global reach, the distributed nature and the interconnectedness of this domain. Failing to develop effective SCD may deeply impair cyber stability and hence the security of information societies. This is an inter-divisional and multidisciplinary eight-month pilot study devoted to establish a network of international experts lead by Oxford to landscape the problem space and the future research on SCD. The project has three main objectives (a) identifying the range of the most pressing issues that may challenge the deployment of SCD; (b) outlining the agenda for the development of the conceptual framework needed to address such problems successfully; (c) start shaping the requirements for national capacity building for SCD.
