Russia has deployed cyber operations to interfere in foreign elections, launch disinformation campaigns, and cripple neighboring states-all while maintaining a thin veneer of deniability and avoiding strikes that cross the line into acts of war. How should a targeted nation respond? In “Russian Cyber Operations”, Scott Jasper dives into the legal and technical maneuvers of Russian cyber strategies, proposing that nations develop solutions for resilience to withstand future attacks. Jasper examines the place of cyber operations within Russia's asymmetric arsenal and its use of hybrid and information warfare, considering examples from French and US presidential elections and the 2017 NotPetya mock ransomware attack, among others. A new preface to the paperback edition puts events since 2020 into context. Jasper shows that the international effort to counter these operations through sanctions and indictments has done little to alter Moscow's behavior. Jasper instead proposes that nations use data correlation technologies in an integrated security platform to establish a more resilient defense. “Russian Cyber Operations” provides a critical framework for determining whether Russian cyber campaigns and incidents rise to the level of armed conflict or operate at a lower level as a component of competition. Jasper's work offers the national security community a robust plan of action critical to effectively mounting a durable defense against Russian cyber campaigns.
"As the specter of foreign interference casts a pall of uncertainty over the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Scott Jasper's Russian Cyber Operations is timely, insightful, and will be valuable as people reflect on the year that was and an adversarial cyberspace future to come."
John F. Gray, Vancouver
"This slender but powerful volume offers new ways of appreciating Russia's role in the world today."-Terrorism and Political Violence"
Lucien Frary, Rider University
"Jasper's work is a thought-provoking and convincing read and is a wake-up call to revamp Russian deterrence strategies among Western institutions."-Proceedings"
