A first-of-its-kind theoretical overview and practical guide to wargame design
Government, industry, and academia need better tools to explore threats, opportunities, and human interactions in cyberspace. The interactive exercises called cyber wargames are a powerful way to solve complex problems in a digital environment that involves both cooperation and conflict. Cyber Wargaming is the first book to provide both the theories and practical examples needed to successfully build, play, and learn from these interactive exercises.
The contributors to this book explain what cyber wargames are, how they work, and why they offer insights that other methods cannot match. The lessons learned are not merely artifacts of these games—they also shed light on how people interpret and interact with cyberspace in real life. This book covers topics such as cyber action during conventional war, information effects in conflict scenarios, individual versus group decision-making, the intersection of cyber conflicts and nuclear crises, business resilience, emerging technologies, and more.
Cyber Wargaming will be a vital resource for readers interested in security studies and wargame design in higher education, the military, and the private sector.
Reviews
"An invaluable contribution to the wargaming field that drives home the importance of cyber wargaming and offers clear recommendations for how to better incorporate “cyber” into wargames."—Becca Wasser, senior fellow and lead of The Gaming Lab, Center for a New American Security
"Cyber Wargaming is a must read for anyone interested in using wargames to better understand cyber conflict. The book lays out helpful insights for scholars and practitioners leveraging wargames to glean insights into the conduct and consequences of conflict in the cyber domain, and showcases the role of wargaming as a tool for teaching about cyber conflict."—Erik Lin-Greenberg, Leo Marx Career Development Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
About the Author
Frank L. Smith III is a professor in and director of the Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute at the US Naval War College.
Nina Kollars is a special assistant to the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and a nonresident research fellow with the Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute at the US Naval War College.
Benjamin Schechter is a senior wargaming lead at Systems Planning and Analysis Inc.