Russian Cyber Operations

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.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Gen. Keith Alexander, USA (Ret.)

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations


Introduction

Chapter 1. Analytical Framework


PART I. Cyber Operation

Chapter 2. Asymmetric Arsenal Tool

Chapter 3. Hybrid Warfare Element

Chapter 4. Information Warfare Component


PART II. Security Dynamics

Chapter 5. Rational State Behavior

Chapter 6. Unconvincing Responses


PART III. Defensive Solutions

Chapter 7. Current Security Measures

Chapter 8. Automated Cyber Defense

Chapter 9. Technical Offset Strategy


Conclusion

Index

About the Author

Reviews

"“This slender but powerful volume offers new ways of appreciating Russia’s role in the world today.”—Terrorism and Political Violence"—Lucien Frary, Terrorism and Political Violence

"“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"—Ensign Rombado, Proceedings

"“In the battle to protect the global order and empower democracies throughout the world, Russia is our most dangerous adversary. Russian Cyber Operations makes an impressive contribution to the discourse and helps us better understand our digital enemies.”—Brandon Valeriano, Donald Bren Chair of Military Innovation, Marine Corps University"—Brandon Valeriano, Donald Bren Chair of Military Innovation,Marine Corps University

"How Russia understands, uses, and adapts its cyber operations is an important topic for scholars and decision-makers around the world. Scott Jasper provides a detailed analysis of past cyber incidents, combining it with an assessment of how [it is] aligned with international law and emerging norms for cyberspace. Equally important is the third part of Russian Cyber Operations providing food for thought on how to effectively protect and defend against cyber operations."—Tim Maurer, codirector of the Cyber Policy Initiative at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of Cyber Mercenaries: The State, Hackers, and Power

"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, Russian Review

"[Russian Cyber Operations] provides some solid empirical case studies of Russian cyber operations and their strategic context, as well as useful reviews of U.S. legal and strategic responses and their shortcomings...both general and specialist readers will find much sustenance within."—Tim Stevens, H-Diplo

"Overall, Russian Cyber Operations: Coding the Boundaries of Conflict effectively combines and categorizes several previous strategic theories under a common cover...I did enjoy the work and will be adding Russian Cyber Operations to my own cyber policy reference list."—Dr. Mark T. Peters II, Strategic Studies Quarterly

"Scott Jasper’s superb Russian Cyber Operations provides an appraisal of just what the Russians have done, what they may attempt, and how different socio-technical approaches employed by the U.S. and its allies can do to reverse activity that does not necessarily rise to the level of military hostilities."—Chris Bronk, Journal of Strategic Studies

"With clear prose and insight, Jasper traces the history of Russian cyber aggression that maps on to a coherent, revanchist strategy directed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The book is essential reading to understand SolarWinds' place in Russian grand strategic thought, and it offers much-needed solutions to contest guaranteed Russian cyber operations in the future."—Brandon Kirk Williams, Journal of Advanced Military Studies

"Anyone interested in the issues of cyber warfare and cybersecurity policy would do well to understand the framework demonstrated in this book and would benefit from reading it."—Boris Karpa, Journal of Advanced Military Studies

"This slender but powerful volume offers new ways of appreciating Russia’s role in the world today."—Terrorism and Political Violence

"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

"Timely, insightful, and will be valuable as people reflect on... an adversarial cyberspace future to come."—Todd Landman, Russian Review

"Solid empirical case studies of Russian cyber operations and their strategic context, as well as useful reviews of US legal and strategic responses and their shortcomings ... both general and specialist readers will find much sustenance within."—H-Diplo

"Effectively combines and categorizes several previous strategic theories under a common cover ... I will be adding Russian Cyber Operations to my own cyber policy reference list."—Strategic Studies Quarterly

"Jasper sheds light into the ongoing challenges that western countries and the NATO alliance face when responding to Russia’s deployment of offensive cyber. In addition, the book offers detailed perspectives on the most prominent cases of Russian cyber attacks."—International Affairs

Contributors

Supplemental Materials

Awards

About the Author

Capt. Scott Jasper, US Navy (Ret.), is a senior lecturer in the National Security Affairs Department at the US Naval Postgraduate School. He is the author of Strategic Cyber Deterrence: The Active Cyber Defense Option and the editor of Conflict and Cooperation in the Global Commons (Georgetown University Press, 2012), Securing Freedom in the Global Commons, and Transforming Defense Capabilities: New Approaches for International Security. He earned his PhD from the University of Reading, UK.