Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations

by Herbert Lin (Editor), Amy B. Zegart (Editor)

“We are dropping cyber bombs. We have never done that before.”—U.S. Defense Department official A new era of war fighting is emerging for the U.S. military. Hi-tech weapons have given way to hi tech in a number of instances A computer virus is unleashed that destroys centrifuges in Iran, slowing that country’s attempt to build a nuclear weapon. ISIS, which has made the internet the backbone of its terror operations, finds its network-based command and control systems are overwhelmed in a cyber attack. A number of North Korean ballistic missiles fail on launch, reportedly because their systems were compromised by a cyber campaign. Offensive cyber operations like these have become important components of U.S. defense strategy and their role will grow larger. But just what offensive cyber weapons are and how they could be used remains clouded by secrecy. This new volume by Amy Zegart and Herb Lin is a groundbreaking discussion and exploration of cyber weapons with a focus on their strategic dimensions. It brings together many of the leading specialists in the field to provide new and incisive analysis of what former CIA director Michael Hayden has called “digital combat power” and how the United States should incorporate that power into its national security strategy.

Genres: Technology, Espionage, Nonfiction, Politics

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 15, 2019

Reviews

[COL(ret.) Frank J. Stech, PhD · Rating 4 out of 5]

U.S. National Cyber Strategy now openly adopts offensive cyber operations (OCO) against adversaries. The former commander of the U.S. Cyber Command and NSA commissioned the Hoover Institution to assemble these essays on present and future issues raised by this newly announced OCO strategy.
So, this is not easy reading for the mildly curious, and challenging even for professionals, who know this is still largely uncharted terra incognito. In the unmapped realm of cyber space, much is being inked in hypothetically, like the mythical creatures on the maps of old.
Meanwhile, hunting the spies, hackers, trolls, trojans, worms, the cyber warriors are duking it out in the cyber dark. Three hundred pound amateurs in mommy's basement they are not. And black swans surely will be found. Don't hope for unicorns.
Here be dragons?
As these Wise Men and Women said, we'll see.

[Pukhraj Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent advancement in the process of gluing cyber operations with statecraft and geo-strategy. There's a lot of focus on strategic cyber meeting the highest thresholds of conflict. But surprisingly, American policymakers still choose to indulge in "destroy, deny, degrade" kind of cyber, with little focus on its potent cognitive aspects