1. Introduction

The chapter introduces four themes of the book. First, challenges that are unique to cybersecurity, especially the difficulty of deterring and legally penalizing hackers, impose limits on the ability of states to benefit much from the traditional focus on denial defense and reliance on international rules. Second, political attributes that define states as democratic generate a set of strengths and weaknesses in the defense of their networks. Any cybersecurity strategy they adopt has both dimensions that they need to address. Third, some of the challenges that they face are so great that they have the effects of relatively empowering hacking groups that are part of or sponsored by authoritarian states. Finally, the search for strategic options for democratic states to manage the impact of strategic asymmetry presents two additional strategies to consider—offensive cyber operations and active defense strategy.