Recovery IS strength: The test of American cyber power

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This OpEd was originally published in S.C. Media:

July 21, 2025

Author:  Cory Simpson, CEO, ICIT

COMMENTARY: American strength was shaped by geography. Oceans gave us insulation. Distance gave us time. And that shaped how we prepared for risk: we built defenses, not resilience.

Cyberspace shattered that distance. It collapses distance, bypasses borders, and connects everything instantly. The advantages of geography no longer apply. What once shielded us—oceans, borders, early warning—is now irrelevant. In this domain, the United States is no fortress. It’s a glass house.

The United States is the most digitally dependent society on Earth. Every sector—energy, healthcare, finance, water, transportation—runs on connected systems that are interdependent and increasingly exposed. We’ve become overly reliant on technology that is often unreliable, and when it fails, consequences cascade. Securing national strength in this environment requires a holistic approach to cybersecurity—one that integrates prevention, detection, and recovery as coequal priorities. But while we invest heavily in the first two, recovery—the ability to restore, adapt, and continue operations under pressure—remains undervalued.

Disruption defines the digital era. Recovery is a mark of national maturity—an expression of foresight, design, and strategic clarity. It is built in from the start, shaping infrastructure, expectations, and outcomes. That mindset produces resilience across sectors, through partnerships, and under pressure. For the United States, recovery by design must become the foundation of modernization. It is how digital infrastructure maintains confidence, sustains mission, and reinforces national strength. As I argued in "Cyber Resilience Is the New Deterrence," it also signals strength to adversaries, denying them the strategic advantage they seek through disruption.

Designing for disruption: Building recovery into the foundation

The modern threat environment requires strategic clarity and design discipline. Global instability is rising, and adversaries are emboldened. Cyber operations have become standard tools of statecraft—used to disrupt economies, erode trust, and impose costs without firing a shot. In this domain, digital power is reciprocal: the more we project strength in cyberspace, the more we must prepare to absorb pressure. The terrain is fully contested and deeply interconnected.

Cybersecurity requires a holistic approach that encompasses prevention, detection, and recovery, all designed to work together as a unified posture. Prevention identifies risks. Detection reveals breaches. Recovery ensures continuity, sustains operations, and preserves strategic clarity under stress. Systems built to recover quickly and with integrity form the backbone of resilience—and the confidence to lead through disruption.

The principle is familiar in medicine: strong health systems don’t just prevent disease—they respond, recover, and restore. Resilience comes from the ability to adapt under pressure, not avoid it entirely. Cyber systems must do the same. Hospitals, financial networks, water utilities, energy platforms, and government operations all rely on digital infrastructure. Their design should reflect this reality: strength comes from systems that can sustain mission, absorb disruption, and continue to deliver critical outcomes.

As outlined in the ICIT Task Force on Digital Consolidation report, recovery is a national imperative. It requires recovery time objectives that drive decision-making, interoperable systems that work across sectors, and coordinated readiness between public and private partners. It calls for built-in redundancy, procurement aligned with recovery standards, and regularly exercised response plans. These are the hallmarks of systems designed to lead through disruption—and to earn trust before, during, and after crisis.

Recovery is a strategic capability—designed, tested, and embedded into the foundation of national power. It reflects foresight, discipline, and mature design. In a contested digital world, recovery maintains strength, reinforces credibility, and preserves the freedom to decide, lead, and act with confidence.

Leading in the glass house: Exposure, pressure, and preparedness

The United States leads the world in digital capability. Our scale, integration, and pace of innovation drive global leadership—and deep dependence. But in cyberspace, those same strengths create exposure. No other nation relies more on connected infrastructure to power its economy, govern its institutions, and defend its interests. That level of interdependence demands we plan for impact—because in a connected world, disruption isn’t a question of if, but when.

Most cyberattacks against the federal government have been conducted for espionage, with the primary goal of maintaining access and exfiltrating data, avoiding detection and without causing disruption. But across state and local governments, hospitals, utilities, and the private sector, disruption is already reality. Ransomware, outages, and degraded services have made recovery a frontline function. These organizations have spent years managing digital crises. In many ways, they’re ahead of the federal government—and their experience should inform national strategy.

Hostile nations like China have mapped, tested, and in some cases compromised U.S. infrastructure—water, energy, transportation, and communications. The capability to disrupt is already in place, embedded across the systems we depend on. For now, it’s held back by strategic restraint.

That restraint is a policy choice. When it shifts—whether to send a message or signal escalation—the impact will be immediate. The Colonial Pipeline attack offered a glimpse: fuel deliveries halted, cascading effects triggered, public trust shaken. Now apply that pressure across sectors. That’s the risk we face—and the reason recovery must be ready.

When disruption comes, continuity defines resilience. Essential services must function. Leadership must stay connected. The nation must remain operational and aligned. Recovery makes that possible. That is readiness.

Recovery by design

Recovery is a mark of national maturity—an expression of foresight, discipline, and design. It shapes infrastructure from day one: systems are stress-tested, leaders are trained, and operations continue under pressure. That mindset produces real resilience—across sectors, through partnerships, and amid disruption. For the United States, recovery by design must become the foundation of modernization. It is how digital infrastructure earns trust, sustains critical services, and reinforces national strength across every domain.

Recovery is strength

Cyber warfare isn’t a boxing match—it’s a street fight. There are fewer rules, every kind of attack is on the table, and America is taking punches. Strength means absorbing the blow, staying in the fight, and recovering quickly. That’s what keeps services running, leaders connected, and national power aligned under pressure.

That’s what builds confidence—the kind that keeps leaders steady, teams focused, and the mission moving forward. That’s what signals strength. And that’s what gives us the freedom to act with purpose—no matter the pressure.

In cybersecurity, resilience is the measure. It comes from prevention, detection, and recovery—working as one. Recovery completes the posture. It’s what turns disruption into endurance.

If this resonates, say so. Tell your teams, your representatives, your partners: recovery is not a concession. It is strength. And in a world defined by digital disruption, the nations that recover are the ones that endure—and lead.

Cory Simpson

Cory Simpson is the CEO of Gray Space Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting and advisory firm, and the Institute for Critical Infrastructure (ICIT), a non-profit organization dedicated to the security and resilience of critical infrastructure that provides for people’s foundational needs. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0.  The opinions expressed in this article are his own and do not reflect the views of any employer or affiliated organization.

About ICIT

The Institute  for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)3think tank with the mission of modernizing, securing, and making resilient critical infrastructure that provides for people’s foundational needs. ICIT takes no institutional positions on policy matters. Rather than advocate, ICIT is dedicated to being a resource for the organizations and communities that share our mission. By applying a people-centric lens to critical infrastructure research and decision making, our work ensures that modernization and security investments have a lasting, positive impact on society.

Learn more at www.icitech.org/.

ICIT CONTACTS:

Parham Eftekhari

Founder and Chairman

parham@icitech.org 

Cory Simpson

Chief Executive Officer

cory@icitech.org