Gray zone conflicts in cyberspace: challenges for security and defense governance

This paper examines the complexities of cyberspace security governance. By using illustrative examples from the United States, the article explores how uncertainty, challenges in attribution, and the multiplicity of actors in cyberspace, when interacting with overlapping responsibilities among security and defense agencies, may create conditions associated with gray security governance, in which institutional and operational boundaries become less clearly defined. It is also argued that the current ambiguous form of cyber governance has allowed states to pursue strategic objectives in cyberspace without crossing the threshold of traditional conflict, which might enhance the difficulty in identifying and responding to cyber threats. Examples throughout the analysis will elucidate these challenges, highlighting that such governance dilemmas are globally present. The paper concludes with potential recommendations for a research and policy agenda to address the complexity of gray governance in cyberspace and how to overcome it.