Unfortunately, when it comes to cyberconflict, there is no agreement on scale or how it relates to traditional military measures. Iran then carried out, directly or indirectly, a sophisticated drone and cruise missile strike against two major Saudi oil facilities. Since 1945, nuclear weapons have served as a crystal ball in which leaders could glimpse the catastrophe implied by a major war. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, leaders learned the importance of de-escalation, arms-control communication and rules of the road to manage conflict. Cybertechnology, of course, lacks the clear devastating effects of nuclear weapons, and that poses a different set of problems, because there is no crystal ball.

Source: Taipei Times October 10, 2019 15:56 UTC