SCHOOL THESIS

B. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
This thesis specifically focuses on the military cyberspace enterprise, and how
NORAD and the individual military organizations of both the U.S. and Canada might
jointly conduct military cyber attack warning. Therefore, no review was conducted of
civilian cyberspace-related policies or strategies published by either by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Department of Justice (DOJ), or by
Canada’s Public Safety (PS) Canada.
This problem statement also does not propose having NORAD assume the
technical cyberspace defensive/offensive functions performed by USCYBERCOM. The
thesis simply asks, “What is NORAD’s role when assessing whether the U.S.’ and/or
Canada’s military are under a military-related cyber attack?”
The question of whether NORAD should play a role in cyber attack warning does
not seem to have been investigated previously. A literature review identifying the
significant national cyberspace policies for both the U.S. and Canada has been
accomplished, as well as a review of the key military strategies for cyberspace published
by both countries. Literature outlining strategic cyberspace policies and general strategies
of both the U.S. and Canada are well defined and unclassified. Military doctrine
regarding cyberspace operations is also available, but details become classified as
discussions become more technically oriented.
Every five years, NORAD conducts an internal self-assessment to determine if the
Command is accomplishing the right missions, using the right approaches. Recently the
headquarters staff began its investigation regarding NORAD’s role in cyberspace
defense, and expressed great interest and willingness to support this research. This thesis
used existing documentation as well as dialogue with Headquarters NORAD and
USNORTHCOM, USCYBERCOM, and Canadian military cyberspace practitioners.
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