Research Catalog

Title

National Security Implications of Virtual Currency : Examining the Potential for Non-state Actor Deployment / Joshua Baron, Angela O'Mahony, David Manheim, Cynthia Dion-Schwarz.

Author

Baron, Joshua William

Publication

• Santa Monica, Calif. : RAND National Defense Research Institute, [2015]
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• O'Mahony, Angela
• Manheim, David
• Dion-Schwarz, Cynthia
• National Defense Research Institute (U.S.), researcher.
• United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Secretary of Defense, sponsoring body.

Description

xvii, 83 pages : color illustration, graph; 23 cm

Summary

"This report examines the feasibility for non-state actors, including terrorist and insurgent groups, to increase their political and/or economic power by deploying a virtual currency (VC) for use in regular economic transactions. A VC, such as Bitcoin, is a digital representation of value that can be transferred, stored, or traded electronically and that is neither issued by a central bank or public authority, nor necessarily attached to a fiat currency (dollars, euros, etc.), but is accepted by people as a means of payment. We addressed the following research questions from both the technological and political-economic perspectives: (1) Why would a non-state actor deploy a VC? That is, what political and/or economic utility is there to gain? How might this non-state actor go about such a deployment? What challenges would it have to overcome? (2) How might a government or organization successfully technologically disrupt a VC deployment by a non-state actor, and what degree of cyber sophistication would be required? (3) What additional capabilities become possible when the technologies underlying the development and implementation of VCs are used for purposes broader than currency?"--Page 4 of printed paper wrapper.

Series Statement

Research report

Uniform Title

Research report (Rand Corporation) ; RR-1231-OSD.

Subject

• Electronic funds transfers > Political aspects
• National security > Economic aspects
• Non-state actors (International relations)
• Terrorism > Finance
• Bitcoin

Note

• "Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense."
• Series title from publisher's Web site.
• "RR-1231-OSD."--Page 4 of cover.
• "Approved for public release; distribution unlimited."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-83).

Contents

Introduction -- The Current State of Virtual Currencies -- Can Virtual Currencies Increase Political Power? -- Technical Challenges to Virtual Currency Deployment -- Implications Beyond Currency -- Conclusions and Future Research -- Appendix. Rating Cyber Threat Sophistication by Tiers.

Call Number

JBE 17-339

ISBN

• 9780833091833
• 0833091832

LCCN

2016288000

OCLC

933928515

Author

Baron, Joshua William, author.

Title

National Security Implications of Virtual Currency : Examining the Potential for Non-state Actor Deployment / Joshua Baron, Angela O'Mahony, David Manheim, Cynthia Dion-Schwarz.

Publisher

Santa Monica, Calif. : RAND National Defense Research Institute, [2015]

Copyright Date

©2015

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Research report

Research report (Rand Corporation) ; RR-1231-OSD.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-83).

Connect to:

Link to electronic resource

Added Author

O'Mahony, Angela, author.

Manheim, David, author.

Dion-Schwarz, Cynthia, author.

National Defense Research Institute (U.S.), researcher.

United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Secretary of Defense, sponsoring body.

Research Call Number

JBE 17-339