Using a historical analogy as a research strategy: histories of the sea and cyberspace, comparison, and locating the analogy in time -- History of the loosely governed sea between the 16th-19th century: from the age of privateering to its abolition -- Brief history of cyberspace: origins and development of (in-)security in cyberspace -- The sea and cyberspace: comparison and analytical lines of inquiry applying the analogy to cybersecurity -- Cyber pirates and privateers: state proxies, criminals, and independent patriotic hackers -- Cyber mercantile companies conflict and cooperation.
"What does the global telecommunications company Huawei, a hacking-for-hire outfit in India, and Russian cyber criminals have in common? They all share a special relationship to the state, which significantly shapes the politics of cyber(in-)security. The relationships between these actors and states are complex and constantly evolving, yet not well understood. Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity provides an insightful theoretical and empirical analysis of the political challenges raised through the interaction between such semi-state actors and states. The book uses a historical analogy to pirates, privateers, and mercantile companies to uncover the political constitution and interaction of cybercrime, state-sponsored hackers, and large technology companies. Drawing on historical archival sources and innovative theory, it identifies the parallels between today's cyber(in-)security and the historical quest for gold and glory on the high seas during the 16th - 19th centuries. The book explains what the co-presence of semi-state actors means for national and international security and shows that the proximity to the state in these relationships is a key determinant of cyber(in-)security. Through so doing, it clarifies how semi-state actors were historically and contemporarily linked to understandings of statehood, sovereignty, and the legitimacy of the state. Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity offers insights with regard to the political use of state proximity by attackers and defenders, state collaboration with cyber criminals, and the cooperative and conflictive relations of large technology companies to the state. This offers a fresh perspective for understanding the international politics of cyber(in-)security"--
Cyber-warfare is often discussed, but rarely truly seen. When does an intrusion turn into an attack, and what does that entail? How do nations fold offensive cyber operations into their strategies? Operations against networks mostly occur to collect intelligence, in peacetime. Understanding the lifecycle and complexity of targeting adversary networks is key to doing so effectively in conflict. Rather than discussing the spectre of cyber war, Daniel Moore seeks to observe the spectrum of cyber operations. By piecing together operational case studies, military strategy and technical analysis, he shows that modern cyber operations are neither altogether unique, nor entirely novel. Offensive cyber operations are the latest incarnation of intangible warfare–conflict waged through non-physical means, such as the information space or the electromagnetic spectrum. Not all offensive operations are created equal. Some are slow-paced, clandestine infiltrations requiring discipline and patience for a big payoff; others are short-lived attacks meant to create temporary tactical disruptions. This book first seeks to understand the possibilities, before turning to look at some of the most prolific actors: the United States, Russia, China and Iran. Each has their own unique take, advantages and challenges when attacking networks for effect.
Cyber weapons and the possibility of cyber conflict—including interference in foreign political campaigns, industrial sabotage, attacks on infrastructure, and combined military campaigns—require policymakers, scholars, and citizens to rethink twenty-first-century warfare. Yet because cyber capabilities are so new and continually developing, there is little agreement about how they will be deployed, how effective they can be, and how they can be managed. Written by leading scholars, the fourteen case studies in this volume will help policymakers, scholars, and students make sense of contemporary cyber conflict through historical analogies to past military-technological problems. The chapters are divided into three groups. The first—What Are Cyber Weapons Like?—examines the characteristics of cyber capabilities and how their use for intelligence gathering, signaling, and precision striking compares with earlier technologies for such missions. The second section—What Might Cyber Wars Be Like?—explores how lessons from several wars since the early nineteenth century, including the World Wars, could apply—or not—to cyber conflict in the twenty-first century. The final section—What Is Preventing and/or Managing Cyber Conflict Like?—offers lessons from past cases of managing threatening actors and technologies.
In the last decade, the proliferation of billions of new Internet-enabled devices and users has significantly expanded concerns about cybersecurity. How much should we worry about cyber threats and their impact on our lives, society and international affairs? Are these security concerns real, exaggerated or just poorly understood? In this fully revised and updated second edition of their popular text, Damien Van Puyvelde and Aaron F. Brantly provide a cutting-edge introduction to the key concepts, controversies and policy debates in cybersecurity today. Exploring the interactions of individuals, groups and states in cyberspace, and the integrated security risks to which these give rise, they examine cyberspace as a complex socio-technical-economic domain that fosters both great potential and peril. Across its ten chapters, the book explores the complexities and challenges of cybersecurity using new case studies – such as NotPetya and Colonial Pipeline – to highlight the evolution of attacks that can exploit and damage individual systems and critical infrastructures. This edition also includes “reader’s guides” and active-learning exercises, in addition to questions for group discussion. Cybersecurity is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the challenges and opportunities presented by the continued expansion of cyberspace.
Cyber-attacks significantly impact all sectors of the economy, reduce public confidence in e-services, and threaten the development of the economy using information and communication technologies. The security of information systems and electronic services is crucial to each citizen's social and economic well-being, health, and life. As cyber threats continue to grow, developing, introducing, and improving defense mechanisms becomes an important issue. Cyber Security Policies and Strategies of the World's Leading States is a comprehensive book that analyzes the impact of cyberwarfare on world politics, political conflicts, and the identification of new types of threats. It establishes a definition of civil cyberwarfare and explores its impact on political processes. This book is essential for government officials, academics, researchers, non-government organization (NGO) representatives, mass-media representatives, business sector representatives, and students interested in cyber warfare, cyber security, information security, defense and security, and world political issues. With its comprehensive coverage of cyber security policies and strategies of the world's leading states, it is a valuable resource for those seeking to understand the evolving landscape of cyber security and its impact on global politics. It provides methods to identify, prevent, reduce, and eliminate existing threats through a comprehensive understanding of cyber security policies and strategies used by leading countries worldwide.
This book explores the political process behind the construction of cyber-threats as one of the quintessential security threats of modern times in the US. Myriam Dunn Cavelty posits that cyber-threats are definable by their unsubstantiated nature. Despite this, they have been propelled to the forefront of the political agenda. Using an innovative theoretical approach, this book examines how, under what conditions, by whom, for what reasons, and with what impact cyber-threats have been moved on to the political agenda. In particular, it analyses how governments have used threat frames, specific interpretive schemata about what counts as a threat or risk and how to respond to this threat. By approaching this subject from a security studies angle, this book closes a gap between practical and theoretical academic approaches. It also contributes to the more general debate about changing practices of national security and their implications for the international community.
The inside story of how America's enemies launched a cyber war against us-and how we've learned to fight back With each passing year, the internet-linked attacks on America's interests have grown in both frequency and severity. Overmatched by our military, countries like North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia have found us vulnerable in cyberspace. The "Code War" is upon us. In this dramatic book, former Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin takes readers to the front lines of a global but little-understood fight as the Justice Department and the FBI chases down hackers, online terrorist recruiters, and spies. Today, as our entire economy goes digital, from banking to manufacturing to transportation, the potential targets for our enemies multiply. This firsthand account is both a remarkable untold story and a warning of dangers yet to come.
This book examines new and challenging political aspects of cyber security and presents it as an issue defined by socio-technological uncertainty and political fragmentation. Structured along two broad themes and providing empirical examples for how socio-technical changes and political responses interact, the first part of the book looks at the current use of cyber space in conflictual settings, while the second focuses on political responses by state and non-state actors in an environment defined by uncertainties. Within this, it highlights four key debates that encapsulate the complexities and paradoxes of cyber security politics from a Western perspective – how much political influence states can achieve via cyber operations and what context factors condition the (limited) strategic utility of such operations; the role of emerging digital technologies and how the dynamics of the tech innovation process reinforce the fragmentation of the governance space; how states attempt to uphold stability in cyberspace and, more generally, in their strategic relations; and how the shared responsibility of state, economy, and society for cyber security continues to be re-negotiated in an increasingly trans-sectoral and transnational governance space. This book will be of much interest to students of cyber security, global governance, technology studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
