Cyber Power Index 序論

The cutting edge of the internet and rapid increase of information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) have brought about significant impact on the daily lives of individuals. These development and advancements have accelerated the seamless communication through platforms such as email, LINE, SNS, enabled remote work and online learning opportunities, and gained an instant access to a huge amount of information and services. Moreover, beyond the civilian applications, governments and military across numerous nations have embraced these technologies, leading to significant improvement of an operational efficiency, flexible communication, and security measures. For example, governments have increasingly turned to online platforms to facilitate essential services such as tax filing, online payment system, and digital infrastructure. Similarly, militaries have integrated ICTs into their command-and-control systems, strategic operations, and intelligence communications, bolstering their capacity of rapid response and situational awareness whether in an emergency or not.

However, despite these various advantages, the widespread adoption of internet and ICTs has hastened the risks and challenges from many different areas. Especially there is the proliferation of cybersecurity threats, including hacking, cyber data breaches, and cyberattacks. These conducts are grave risks to breach sensitive information, disrupt essential services and destruct public trust in digital infrastructure. Moreover, the dissemination of misinformation and fake news across digital platforms has exacerbated social structure, thereby undermining the democratic systems and societal cohesion. Consequently, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical facet of national security, further prompting the states toward fortifying cyber defenses, and detecting cyber intrusion into critical systems. Reflecting this urgency, majority states have taken measures through formulating and disseminating National Cyber Security Strategies (NCSS) as pivotal documents delineating a comprehensive vision, guiding principles, threat perceptions, and strategic objectives in the cyber domain.

Over the past two decades, Taiwan, long known as a center of information technologies (IT), has confronted cyberattacks from various states such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), North Korea, and Russia, underscoring the importance of cybersecurity in safeguarding Taiwan’s national security. In response to these threats, Taiwan has formulated and promulgated its own NCSS in 2016, with the aim of fortifying cyber defenses for development and strength systematically. Developing such a strategy has become imperative for Taiwan, which faces rapidly escalating cyber threats against PRC. As documented by a report from 〇〇, an international cybersecurity firm, Taiwan’s digital infrastructure has undergone an average 〇〇 cyberattacks per a week during the initial 〇〇 quarters of 2024. Especially a significant proportion from PRC, is notable, targeting governments websites and essential services.

The goal of this research is a clarification of trends of cyber strategy to this status-quo with comparative analysis including Taiwan and various nations systematically. As documented by an academic report from the Rome-based research and education institution, titled “NATO and a Taiwan contingency”. The report was written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at the Institute of European and American Studies at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica. Lee examines whether an armed attack by China would trigger. This research objective is to comparative analysis of cyber power for more than 20 nations over Taiwan. Throughout this analysis, elucidate how it would have affected to geopolitical environment by the cyber strategy for each nation, evaluate them how it would have contributed to international security and safety regional stability. The target nations are US, China, UK, Russia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia and so on. The overall NCPI assessment measures the “comprehensiveness” of a country as a cyber actor. Comprehensiveness, in the context of NCPI, refers to a country’s use of cyber to achieve multiple objectives as opposed to a few. The most comprehensive cyber power is the country that has (1) the intent to pursue multiple national objectives using cyber means and (2) the capabilities to achieves those objective(s). They present three different indicates. The NCPI, the Cyber Intent Index (CII), and the Cyber Capability Index (CCI). The CCI are stand-alone measures. The NCPI is a combination of CII and CCI. The national objectives are recognized are just one of the suites of tools such as alongside traditional military means, diplomacy, public policy, punitive measures, and trade policy, available for nation to employ to achieve their national objectives, not composed in isolation. According to BELFER CENTER for science and International Affairs, NCPI builds on existing database to measure specific factors of cyber power and verify multiple indicators which corrected the data inside their company. They verified the analysis of national cyber strategy using natural language processing (NLP). They have correlated the NCPI composite indicator with relevant measurable phenomena (similar composite indicators but also relevant quantities e.g., GDP/capita, International Telecommunications Union Cybersecurity Index etc.) to identify similarities of differences. The difference between the document known as National Cyber Power Index 2020th and 2022th, he broached the above definition of Cyber Power in 2020 and issued the National Cyber Power Index in the same year, governmental dependency and use of internet and digital technologies to achieve national objectives was well known but not effectively catalogued. Their first NCPI in 2020 extended the scope of the conversation from 5 to 30 states, from one or two objectives to eight. Debates on cyber power have influenced some governments to take a more considered approach to measuring their own cyber capabilities and stimulated a deeper exploration of the scope and application of cyber power. Therefore, the discussion on cyber power -including its scope and utility – has continued unabated. Its importance is undeniable to most governments prioritizing the development of multi-faceted capabilities throughout developing their own holistic policy dealing with cyberattacks including Solarwinds, Microsoft Exchange, Colonial Pipeline, JBS and so on. However, we’ve also seen an increase in the use of digital supply chains as a vector for cyberattacks. And thus, Nations need to enhance their cyber power to protect their interests. Understanding the definition of holistic national power, we must recognize that nations seek not only destroy and disable an adversary’s infrastructure and capabilities, but also to strengthen and enhance national cyber defenses, gather intelligence in other countries, grow national cyber and commercial technologies competence, control and manipulate the information environment, and to extend their influence through defining international cyber norms and technical standards.