Why the United States Can’t Win a Cyberwar

And our political leaders need to understand this—fast.

By Fred Kaplan | Posted Friday, June 8, 2012, at 6:49 PM ET

Sen. John McCain rarely ceases to boggle the mind. He did it again today, highlighting a provision that he inserted in the defense authorization bill requiring U.S. Cyber Command “to provide a strategy for the development and deployment of offensive cyber capabilities.”

“I am very concerned,” he stated, “that our strategy is too reliant on defensive measures in cyber space, and believe we need to develop the capability to go on the offense as well … I believe that cyber warfare will be the key battlefield of the 21^st century, and I am concerned about our ability to fight and win in this new domain.”