Quantum Winter

Adversaries have beaten the U.S. to the punch, acquiring quantum computing capabilities well ahead of the technological world’s expectations. The ramifications of the enemy’s advantage in computational power are felt by a team of U.S. Army technical soldiers during a tactical mission. The team suffers the chaotic effects of the enemy’s advantage, leaving them immobilized by enemy fire and unable to communicate for fear of being more precisely located. Outside, the nation’s power grid is under constant cyber attacks, producing persistent rolling brown outs. With no encryption, banking systems are hacked, destabilizing the economy and inciting civilian riots in major urban centers. The nation is frozen in a “quantum winter,” unable to defend itself, experiencing the prolonged effects of losing the technological race in computational power.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1026/thumbnail.jp

Insider Threat

A concerned serviceman observes his counterpart acting erratically – plotting to cripple or contaminate the entire water system of a U.S. Army base. Suspicious behaviors observed over the course of a year point to a potential insider threat. Insider threats are so dangerous because they are a betrayal of trust. Foundational to the U.S. military is the trust between service members. Erratic behavior doesn’t automatically indicate a possible insider threat, nor should service members spend their days suspicious of their colleagues. In a time when technology has empowered soldiers to be more effective and efficient, these threats are increasingly hazardous. How can we create a culture of awareness and support to catch problems early and disrupt a possible insider threat before it ever exists?https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1025/thumbnail.jp

Two Days After Tuesday

In an ever more connected world the possibilities for bad-actors to hijack, subvert, and exploit existing systems grow numerous. In this publication, a worst-case-scenario is explored when the bad guys win, how this might occur, and what developing elements of our world enabled this hypothetical disaster.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1033/thumbnail.jp

A Widening Attack Plain

A glimpse of our digital future includes diverse actors operating on a widening attack plain with affects ranging from data disruption to death and destruction. How do we craft meaningful narratives of the future that can advise our community today? How do we combat the weaponization of data and future technology? Where do we even start? Threatcasting is a conceptual framework and process that enables multidisciplinary groups to envision and systematically plan against threats ten years in the future. In August 2016, the Army Cyber Institute convened a cross section of public, private and academic participants to model future digital threats using this process with inputs from social science, technical research, cultural history, economics, trends, expert interviews and even a little science fiction. Renowned futurist Brian David Johnson and Army Major Natalie Vanatta will explore the results of this project that not only describes tomorrow’s threats but also identifies specific actions, indicators and concrete steps that can be taken today to disrupt, mitigate and recover from these future threats.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1034/thumbnail.jp

Hero

The year is 2028. Amid chemical attacks and global conflict, a rumored summit is about to convene in a secret location. Tensions are high. Rumors are rampant. A terror cell has infiltrated the summit and an attack is imminent. Who can gather the crucial information needed and disarm the threat? It’s time for an unlikely hero.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1028/thumbnail.jp

Engineering a Traitor

CPT Jake Roberts had always wanted to serve his country. In college, he was the only student in his engineering program to be commissioned as a U.S. Army Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. But the last year has not been kind to Jake. Bit by bit, he’s become disenfranchised from his field office. Not included...secretly bullied...left behind...Jake loses trust with his Commanding Officer. Turns out, over the last year behind the scenes, he’s been nudged and directed by the invisible hand of AI. Targeted for surveillance and coercion, he’s pushed to his breaking point … until he must take action...It was just a small device hooked into the smart building maintenance system... How could it lead to the undetected missile attack on Houston? Thousands of civilians killed...a congressional investigation...Jake is convicted as a traitor to the country he swore to protect.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1031/thumbnail.jp

The Great Attack: Survivors\u27 Tales

This is the story of the Great Attack. Where various EDTs (sometimes working together and sometimes singularly) were paired with traditional kinetic weapons in an attempt to create WMD-like effects. Adversaries staying away from WMD payloads kept themselves under the radar. Yet, they still created the three devastating phases (not with a singular bomb drop but in a series of actions designed to bring a country to its knees). They shattered our way of life and proved that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary space.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1044/thumbnail.jp

Dark Hammer

Our science fiction prototype will take us to the year 2027. Things have gone from bad to worse on the Han Chiu Peninsula. Karta is under attack. While the east of the city falls quickly, the U.S. and West Han Chiu forces hold their ground on the west banks of the Tan River. The combined ground forces must hold back the onslaught. Reinforcements will not make it in time. The fight is about to begin... With no option but to battle it out on the ground, casualties are sure to be high. There is another hope. The Dark Hammer...a cyber offensive capability that might turn the tables and win the day.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1024/thumbnail.jp

11-25-2027

The shipments from Fort Lewis were delayed two days, leaving Lt. Jenkins and her skeleton crew to supervise the load at the docks on Thanksgiving day. Without a second thought, one of them tweets, “Finally … looks like I will get some turkey! #hatemylife” … and the attack begins. Months before, the Army’s highly automated supply chain and the deployment planning system had been breached, turning them into a weapon for a local terror cell. Little errors and minimal oversight have sent a deadly payload to the docks of Seattle, WA. A pair of autonomous drones fly on a collision course with a specially loaded railcar … millions will die. No one will ever forget 11/25/27.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1030/thumbnail.jp

1000 Cuts

A foreign criminal organization has taken advantage of known vulnerabilities in network devices and online services comprising the global Internet of things. Violations of U.S. military operational security, breached network devices, and previously exposed personal information have enabled these nefarious actors to target individual members of a U.S. military unit deployed in support of U.N. peacekeeping operations. The distributed targeting of individual members of the unit has left the entire organization distracted from their military responsibilities. Subsequently, these attacks are enough to disrupt the entire unit’s ability to adequately defend their base against the criminal organization’s attacks. In other words, the deployed unit has suffered a death by a “1000 cuts.”https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1027/thumbnail.jp