Whenever I hear "adversaries will back down in the face of US (counter) offensive cyber operations" some part of me sees the same confidence of a three-star general telling us "we're turning the corner in Afghanistan"
Sometimes more firepower and applying overmatch wins. Sometimes it can make the problem worse especially when there's a lot of civilians in the way & people are likely to be outrage. Sometimes there is not a path to military victory.
Hopefully this new US strategy will work as adversaries back down & we all return to lower, more stable levels of conflict. But let's not kid ourselves this is the only outcome.
Just remember, cyberspace is existential for our adversaries as well as to the US. They may not accept permanent US superiority, the goal of the new cyber strategy.
