Should there be a “draft” for cyber war?
If so, who should be called?
Draft makes sense because soldiers are effectively a commodity (I don't mean this disrespectfully, I have a strong respect for the military and front line troops in particular, I'm talking about how a broad draft takes advantage of human power).
There could no doubt be targeted government recruiting of people with certain expertise, as I assume there was in the past among nuclear or rocket scientists. This is not the same as a draft, it's driven by special skills, not a broad need for manpower.
There already is, and has been since the 90s. It's called a sting operation. They catch a hacker, tell him he now works for a TLA for X years in return for the charges going away at that time. In my limited experience, by the time the Xth year rolls around the guy is liking the money and normalcy, and knows he's going to be watched like a hawk for the rest of his life.
If you are talking about a widespread draft, it wouldn't work I think, because hacking a system is as much an art as dance, and is a kind of improv dance. You can learn to be an ok hacker, especially if you ride on the wings of great tools, but to be a great hacker takes a born talent for the perception of patterns and how they react, kind of what Gibson called nodal thinking.
You'd be better off finding people like that at as young an age as possible and inducing them in every positive way possible to come work in cyber. An example of one possible inducement is the NSA's NCAE-C program[1].
[1] https://www.nsa.gov/Academics/Centers-of-Academic-Excellence...
There is not and should not be a draft at all.
Do you mean specifically for engineers, when there isn't a draft otherwise? Also no.
Back when there was a draft in the USA, everyone was drafted (well, all men of relevant demographics), and people with specialized skills (say, doctors) were drafted into relevant positions.
Drafting software engineers would be an utter failure. Trying to get a team of well-paid, motivated engineers on the same page can be like herding cats. Getting a team of bitter engineers working against their will, possibly on a project they don't morally agree with, will never, ever, ever work.
Just think about the possibility for sabotage. How are you going to tell the difference between a commit that is broken because Bob is kind of incompetent, and a commit that is broken because Larry had to leave his $195K per year, work from home job to maintain your shitty targeting app? Are you going to court martial someone because their integration tests break?
The US government definitely has a problem recruiting young talent, but that could be solved almost overnight by paying better and legalizing marijuana, no draft required.
No, you don't want random people running around with knowledge about your country's cyber capabilities. Cyber attacks target strategic companies and infrastructure, so a proper cyber defense would work to impose good security regulations and practices. If they need offensive capabilities, countries should invest in a standing teams that know what they are doing and are properly vetted.
I think the enemy should draft engineers, the more the better, nothing will slow them down more so than a bunch of grumpy devs trying to work together, likely kick off a civil war!
You can probably get volunteers to do it as a job. Ordinary draft is useful to get large masses of people. You don't need that, you need a few motivated specialists.
If there were, it would probably operate similar to the Manhattan project where contractors and companies were hired to do spec work by cover organizations without knowing what the true extent of what they are contributing to is. Though writing code, it would be a bit obvious they getting work to make some kind of exotic alloy meeting some spec.
No, because if you try to force unmotivated programmers to do work for you the result will likely turn out to be garbage.
In an uncertain world it only makes sense to provide training to certain specialists whose skills are useful in modern combat. So not just cybersecurity, but I could imagine pro gamers being trained in operating combat drones or other unmanned vehicles.
I doubt it makes sense. You can get a guy, give him a gun and point him towards Paris/Berlin and shoot him if he doesn't do enough.
Try to do that with a hacker.
Keep a list, make joining easy and don't go all military bullshit on them and you don't need a draft.
There should never be a draft. If a country can't defend itself with volunteers and a professional army, it doesn't have the necessary support of the people to remain a country.
"Cyber war" is bed time story for kids.
It's more a question of what are the ressources needed Vs what is available. When there was still a draft in my country some people were assigned to telecommunications and electronic warfare, so I don't see why there should not be for cyber war
Draft? We need less war not more. Drafts are evil.
I would support a short term draft for cyber defense .. all software folks should be better versed in hardening systems.
I'd prefer a draft for new politicians that can settle differences without any kind of war
Go away, or I'll replace you with a script
I don't know why everyone assumes the US should be picking sides in wars half way around the world. We've been doing that for quite a while and it only seems to make things worse.