... Over the last 12 months, the world has seen some of the largest data breaches and cyber attacks in history, including Facebook. Indeed, President Obama’s 2012 Presidential Policy Directive 20 (PPD-20) required a complex and lengthy interagency legal process before approval of any offensive cyber operation. When used in combination with other military tactics, cyber operations can level the playing field, said one respondent. A report from Microsoft has urged states to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of offensive operations, pointing out that the ultimate aim of rules guiding offensive action should be to reduce conflict between states. Security Pros Agree Military Should Conduct Offensive Hacking. Whether or not society, politicians, or the military agree that true cyber warfare will take place in the future, or cyber terrorism, undoubtedly there are key advantages that will entice the forces of criminals, governments, hackers, activities, and terrorist to continue to pursue cyber attack tools as part of their agenda, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation or worse. He previously served as Director for Plans and Operations for Cyber Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Until now, the United States’ cyber warfare policy has been one of defense, with a few noteworthy exceptions. Michael Sulmeyer is Director of the Cyber Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. We need to be very careful how and were we put data on the web; The US is attacked millions of times daily. The pros and cons of cybersecurity: how it’s going to grow and kill your business. International law applies to cyber operations as it does to other state activities. If someone were to break through our cyber security it could have a huge impact Volcanic Pro.