SCHOOL THESIS

VI.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. FINDINGS
This thesis began with an examination of NORAD’s history of evolving to meet
new military defense challenges. It also examined cyber warfare components and
evolving definitions, key U.S. and Canadian military cyber organizations, and current
cyberspace national event conferences. With the dramatic increase in world-wide
cyberspace events, it was noted NORAD has begun examining its own potential role in
this new operational domain.
This thesis then examined current NORAD, U.S. and Canadian strategic guidance
relating to cyberspace operations. Both the NORAD Agreement clearly reflect both
Nation’s desire that NORAD be able to adapt and defend against newly evolving military
threats which each nation may jointly face. Likewise, numerous U.S. government
strategies recommend working with international organizations to develop watch-andwarning
networks in order to detect and prevent cyber attacks. Further, U.S. military
cyberspace policies identify the need to integrate coalition partners early into planning
processes and thus increase the overall success of combined operations. Finally, from a
Canadian perspective, both their civilian and military strategies mirror these same themes
of working with international organizations to develop international watch-and-warning
networks in order to detect and prevent cyber attacks. In summary, both U.S. and Canada
strategic cyberspace guidance propose a closer working arrangement between each
country as a means of dealing with growing cyberspace threats. These documents
significantly inform the discussion regarding NORAD potential new role in cyberspace
threat information and attack assessment.
With this policy background in mind, three courses of action (COAs) were
eventually developed regarding possible roles NORAD might play in future military
cyber attack warning situations. Each proposed COA was initially analyzed to ensure it
met specific validity criteria. They were then examined for specific advantages,
disadvantages, and possible solutions (each generally weighted for implementation).
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