Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden points to a lack of clarity about cyber threats, noting that "few of us ... have created the broad structural framework within which to comfortably and confidently place these varied phenomena." Hayden says that no one familiar with the U.S. Cyber Command or its mission thinks that current policy, law, or doctrine is sufficiently aligned with its requirements or capabilities. "Part of our cyber policy problem is that its newness and our familiar experience in physical space do not easily transfer to cyber space," he writes.

"Casually applying well-known concepts from physical space like deterrence, where attribution is assumed, to cyber space where attribution is frequently the problem, is a recipe for failure." Other unaddressed issues are concerned with whether cyber actually is a domain, what a modern definition of a reasonable expectation of privacy is, and whether the threat of cyber war is truly understood. Hayden agrees that the free market has not provided a sufficient degree of security for the Internet because the true costs of insecurity are concealed or not understood. He writes that a recalibration of what information should be classified is needed, because "if we want to shift the popular culture, we need a broader flow of information to corporations and individuals to educate them on the threat."

Hayden says that "our most pressing need is clear policy, formed by shared consensus, shaped by informed discussion, and created by a common body of knowledge." Other issues Hayden raises include what constitutes the right of defense, and whether international law has a role to play. The possibilities of cyber arms control and cyber defense remain unanswered questions as well. "At what point do we shift from additional investment in defense to more investment in response and recovery?" Hayden inquires.

He concludes that "until these and other questions like them are answered, we could be forced to live in the worst of all possible cyber worlds—routinely vulnerable to attack and self-restrained from bringing our own power to bear."