Martin Libicki — a senior management scientist at RAND and formerly at the National Defense University — has written the standard reference text on cyber strategy for the military and policy community. The second edition, published in 2021, substantially updates the original to incorporate the decade of experience since its first publication, including the Snowden revelations, the Russian operations of 2014-2016, the NotPetya attack, and the escalating cyber dimensions of great power competition.
The book is technically demanding and strategically rigorous, engaging seriously with questions of deterrence, escalation, and the relationship between cyber operations and conventional military force that most popular accounts elide. For practitioners advising government or military clients on cyber strategy, or seeking to understand the strategic context within which information operations are conducted, Libicki provides the most authoritative available framework. His taxonomy of cyber operations — exploiting, attacking, and influencing — and his analysis of why the coercive potential of cyber power is consistently overestimated are particularly valuable for accurate threat assessment and strategic communication.
Cogitavi commentary
Martin Libicki — a senior management scientist at RAND and formerly at the National Defense University — has written the standard reference text on cyber strategy for the military and policy community. The second edition, published in 2021, substantially updates the original to incorporate the decade of experience since its first publication, including the Snowden revelations, the Russian operations of 2014-2016, the NotPetya attack, and the escalating cyber dimensions of great power competition.
The book is technically demanding and strategically rigorous, engaging seriously with questions of deterrence, escalation, and the relationship between cyber operations and conventional military force that most popular accounts elide. For practitioners advising government or military clients on cyber strategy, or seeking to understand the strategic context within which information operations are conducted, Libicki provides the most authoritative available framework. His taxonomy of cyber operations — exploiting, attacking, and influencing — and his analysis of why the coercive potential of cyber power is consistently overestimated are particularly valuable for accurate threat assessment and strategic communication.