Cyber Mercenaries: The State, Hackers, and Power
Cambridge University Press, 1/31/2018
EAN 9781107566866, ISBN10: 110756686X
Paperback, 268 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm
Language: English
Cyber Mercenaries explores the secretive relationships between states and hackers. As cyberspace has emerged as the new frontier for geopolitics, states have become entrepreneurial in their sponsorship, deployment, and exploitation of hackers as proxies to project power. Such modern-day mercenaries and privateers can impose significant harm undermining global security, stability, and human rights. These state-hacker relationships therefore raise important questions about the control, authority, and use of offensive cyber capabilities. While different countries pursue different models for their proxy relationships, they face the common challenge of balancing the benefits of these relationships with their costs and the potential risks of escalation. This book examines case studies in the United States, Iran, Syria, Russia, and China for the purpose of establishing a framework to better understand and manage the impact and risks of cyber proxies on global politics.
Part I. Of Brokers and Proxies
1. Cyber proxies
an introduction
2. Proxies
an instrument of power since ancient times
3. Cyber power
geopolitics and human rights
Part II. Cyber Proxies Up Close
4. Cyber proxies on a tight leash
the United States
5. Cyber proxies on a loose leash
Iran and Syria
6. Cyber proxies on the loose
the former Soviet Union
7. Change over time
China's evolving relationships with cyber proxies
Part III. Implications
8. The theory
state responsibility and cyber proxies
9. The practice
shaping cyber proxy relationships
10. Conclusion
cyber proxies, the future, and suggestions for further research
Future research
Notes.