McCrary Institute releases paper encouraging a thoughtful strategy for more offensive cyber
Published: Jan 14, 2026 3:30 PM
By Victoria Dillon
WASHINGTON – As Washington ramps up conversation on the need for more offensive cyber capabilities, the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security released a paper laying out how we got where we are, what capabilities are used and what tensions exist in the current structure, and advocates for a thoughtful, forward-leaning cybersecurity strategy that more proactively defends the homeland and deters our adversaries.
You can find the full paper, U.S. Cyber Policy: Offense, Deterrence, and Strategic Competition, here.
This paper is the first in a series of products from the McCrary Institute’s Task Force on National Security and Law Enforcement, which brings together senior leaders from across the national security community and the private sector. Task Force members include former leaders from the defense, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement communities, industry, the White House, and Capitol Hill — individuals with direct experience operating within, overseeing, and shaping U.S. cyber authorities, institutions, and doctrine.
“As cyberspace has emerged as a central arena of strategic competition, U.S. cyber policy and structures have struggled to keep pace. Business as usual isn’t cutting it,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the McCrary Institute. “In a domain defined by persistent engagement and pre-positioned access, we cannot simply ‘firewall’ our way out of the problem. As the Administration weighs consequential decisions — from the future of the dual-hat relationship between NSA and Cyber Command to proposals for a dedicated Cyber Force — it is essential to ground those debates in a clear understanding of how we arrived here and where existing authorities, organizations, and doctrines fall short. This paper draws on the collective experience of our senior fellows to clarify the strategic tradeoffs ahead and establish a foundation for the policy discussions that must follow.”
The task force is co-chaired by Thomas P. Bossert, president and co-founder, Trinity Cyber, former assistant to the president for Homeland Security; Hon. Chris Inglis, former national cyber director; Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr, USMC, Ret., executive director, Global and National Security Institute, executive director, Florida Center for Cybersecurity; and Cilluffo.
“Read this report if you agree that the status quo in cybersecurity is not good enough,” said Bossert.
“No domain of interest is as critical to the health, safety and vitality of our society as the digital infrastructure known as cyberspace. And no instrument of national power is as actively deployed as the body of tools, doctrine and skills collectively referred to as cyber operations,” said Inglis. “This accessible and concise report is an essential foundation to understand our experience in reconciling our aspirations for cyber to the realities of cyber. It’s a must read for all those who intend to thrive and prosper in the 21st century.”
“This is an important study, and we hope it will prove useful as policymakers face some tough decisions in cyber,” added Gen. McKenzie.
The McCrary Institute is a leader bringing forward the people and ideas shaping the digital world in national security and cybersecurity policy. You can find this paper along with insights from guests on the Cyber Focus podcast discussing issues in the paper alongside independent reporting on the institute's news site, Threat Beat. Visit www.ThreatBeat.com/OffensiveCyber.
Media Contact: , vnd0003@auburn.edu,
Marines with Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command in the cyber operations center at Fort Meade, Md.
