Lillian Ablon

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies hold the potential to become critical force multipliers in future armed conflicts. The People's Republic of China has identified AI as key to enhancing its national competitiveness and security. If its current AI plan is successful, China will achieve a substantial military advantage over the United States and its allies. That has significant negative strategic implications for the United States.

Zero-day vulnerabilities--software vulnerabilities for which no patch or fix has been publicly released--and their exploits are useful in cyber operations, as well as in defensive and academic settings. This report provides findings from real-world zero-day vulnerability and exploit data that can inform ongoing policy debates regarding stockpiling (i.e., keeping zero-day vulnerabilities private) versus disclosing them to the public.

Cybersecurity is a constant, and, by all accounts growing, challenge. This report, the second in a multiphase study on the future of cybersecurity, reveals perspectives and perceptions from chief information security officers; examines the development of network defense measures and the countermeasures that attackers create to subvert those measures; and explores the role of software vulnerabilities and inherent weaknesses."

Criminal activities in cyberspace are increasingly facilitated by burgeoning black markets. This report characterizes these markets and how they have grown into their current state to provide insight into how their existence can harm the information security environment. Understanding these markets lays the groundwork for exploring options to minimize their potentially harmful influence.