Improving Cyber Defense Assistance to Meet the Challenge of Hybrid Warfare

The war in Ukraine represents an advancement in hybrid warfare tactics, as Russia conducts cyberattacks against Ukraine alongside conventional warfare. Private sector companies have been delivering cyber defense assistance (CDA) to Ukrainian organizations since the war’s onset, contributing to Ukraine’s success in defending against Russian cyberattacks.

The Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative (CDAC) is a group of private-sector technology and cyber companies allied with critical public-sector organizations delivering intelligence support, tools, and services to Ukraine.  It has been difficult for CDAC to evaluate its efforts, identify effective assistance types, and assess how its operating model serves cyber defenders’ needs due to the challenges of evaluating CDA.

This report presented a framework for measuring the effectiveness of the CDA model based on the case study of Ukraine. The project considered the existing literature on the effectiveness of cybersecurity and draws from frameworks in other fields, especially development and defense assistance. Interviews with stakeholders were conducted to develop the most appropriate indicators to assess the CDA model.

The resulting evaluation framework identified 13 components and 33 indicators across five key pillars: Operational Success, Efficiency, Strategic Planning, Friction, and Sustainability. The framework provided a three-phased approach designed to enable users to prioritize certain aspects of evaluation - operational, strategic, and organizational - at different points of conflict and CDA provision. Finally, the report provided recommendations for improving the evaluation framework, including broadening the scope of data collection and considering the challenges and implications of evaluating cyber defense assistance.