Distinguishing Electromagnetic Attack from Offensive Cyberspace Actions
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Authors
Olson, Karl
Catudal, Joseph
Fernandes, John
Burrow, Daniel
Allison, Benjamin
Turner, James
Richoux, Blane
Sullivan, Scott
Issue Date
2025-06
Type
Technical Report
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Distinguishing Electromagnetic Attack from Offensive Cyberspace Actions – Assessment, Recommendations, and Framework
Abstract
Problem: The Cyber Center of Excellence (CCoE) asked the Army Cyber Institute (ACI) to analyze terminology and metrics used to differentiate electromagnetic attack (EA) and offensive cyberspace operations (OCO) to determine if refining the existing lexicon or adopting an alternate conceptual framework would achieve better clarity.
Background: An inherent overlap exists between the cyberspace domain, the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), and devices which use the EMS. Current terminology usage is often insufficient to characterize certain actions as OCO, EA, or something else. This ambiguity presents challenges. First, the military distinguishes cyberspace operations (CO) from electromagnetic warfare (EW), and the resulting characterization of an action can dictate funding, responsibility, and authority. Second, insufficient terminology limits the range of actions that can be effectively described and conceptualized. Ultimately, this study seeks to ensure that commanders at echelon can employ EW and cyberspace capabilities to their fullest.
Approach: We engaged with the community of practice to understand how operations are being conducted, the potential actions that might be involved, the use of terminology, and the overall context within the operating force. We combined this with reviews of applicable laws, doctrine, and related efforts to inform our analysis and develop recommendations.
Proposal: The overlap of cyberspace and the EMS makes a clear separation of EA from OCO infeasible and potentially limiting. Instead, we separate the underlying authorities question from the terminology considerations and propose 1) a layered model to help describe emissions in the EMS to offer deeper understanding and nuance for describing EW actions, and 2) a framework to help commanders and their staffs to better understand EA and OCO actions and their associated risks to aid their decision-making processes.
Description
Citation
Olson, Karl, Joseph Catudal, John Fernandes, Daniel Burrow, Benjamin Allison, James Turner, Blane Richoux, and Scott Sullivan. 2025. Distinguishing Electromagnetic Attack from Offensive Cyberspace Actions. Technical Report. Army Cyber Institute, United States Military Academy.
Publisher
Army Cyber Institute