Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study

SEI Report
This study profiles cyber threat actors and analyzes the timing between cyber and kinetic events to better understand nation-state cyber responses.
Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025
Topic or Tag

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between cyber and kinetic events through the lens of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, over a 10-year span of data that began on January 1, 2004, and completed on December 31, 2013. Due to the relative newness of the cyber environment, a five-year interval was also examined for the cyber behavior. This was due primarily to the significant increase in cyber activity beginning at year 2010.

This study is structured to allow for the examination of actors involved in cyber events (specifically web defacements) where those events relate to kinetic activities, by using culture as the framework in which the events are discussed. This study was designed to profile cyber actors, and to examine the time interval between cyber and kinetic events in order to gain greater insights into nation-state cyber responses to kinetic events. The study results present findings about the relationships of cultural values and the cyber and kinetic actions that have been observed and recorded.

Cite This SEI Report

Sample, C. (2015, November 30). Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025). Retrieved August 16, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/.

@techreport{sample_2015,
author={Sample, Char},
title={Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study},
month={Nov},
year={2015},
number={{CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Aug-16}
}

Sample, Char. "Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study." (CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, November 30, 2015. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/.

C. Sample, "Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025, 30-Nov-2015 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/. [Accessed: 16-Aug-2026].

Sample, Char. "Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 30 Nov. 2015. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

Sample, Char. Cyber + Culture Early Warning Study. CMU/SEI-2015-SR-025. Software Engineering Institute. 2015. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/cyber-culture-early-warning-study/