Report: China, Russia Exploiting US Cyber Policy Gaps to Gain Strategic Advantage
The United States should more aggressively counter the expanding threat posed by China and Russia, according to a think tank report that characterizes Washington’s current approach as misaligned with an era of persistent cyber competition.
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The McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security published analysis calling the nation ill-prepared to compete with China and Russia’s sustained, offensive cyber campaigns. The institute’s task force on national security and law enforcement says U.S. cyber policy has evolved incrementally and reactively, resulting in legal authorities, organizational structures and operational frameworks that are misaligned with a threat environment defined by constant competition and non-stop engagement.
Beijing and Moscow treat cyberspace as ground for national competition, the researchers said. The U.S. remains constrained by frameworks built for episodic operations and crisis response – not long-term strategic competition. The report highlights China as the most strategically deliberate cyber adversary, citing its long-term emphasis on persistent access into U.S. critical infrastructure that could be used for coercion or disruption during a geopolitical crisis.
“In a domain characterized by speed, ambiguity and persistent engagement, inaction and incrementalism are themselves strategic choices,” the researchers wrote. “The choices made now regarding authorities, organization and doctrine will determine whether the United States can sustain strategic advantage in a domain defined by persistent campaigns and enduring competition.”
Russia is also operationally aggressive, integrating cyber operations into military campaigns – particularly throughout its invasion of Ukraine – while using disruptive attacks, information campaigns and pre-positioned access to amid regional conflicts (see: Russian Hackers Hitting Critical Infrastructure, FBI Warns ).
The report says that Washington risks remaining trapped in a reactive posture while China and Russia shape the cyber domain on their own terms. Report authors point to longstanding friction between American military and intelligence missions as a structural constraint that complicates planning, oversight and execution for ongoing cyber operations.
The report describes the dual-hat relationship between the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command as a source of “unparalleled synergy between intelligence collection and operational capability” and simultaneously as creating “friction regarding mission prioritization, resource sufficiency and the degree to which intelligence-driven stealth or military-driven effects should take priority.”
The researchers called for modernizing statutory authorities, clarifying interagency roles and aligning organizational design with the realities of continuous cyber competition. Modernizing U.S. cyber operations would allow the nation to impose greater uncertainty and operational cost on adversaries who currently enjoy asymmetric advantages in cyberspace, according to the report.
“The United States cannot simply defend its way out of a problem defined by adversaries that enjoy initiative, sanctuary and asymmetric advantages in cyberspace,” the report says.