steve on Nostr: “Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War” by Fred Kaplan ...
“Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War” by Fred Kaplan
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Kaplan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who earned his PhD in Political Science from MIT. In “Dark Territory”, Kaplan explores the history of cyber warfare through an American lens. Tracing its origins during the Reagan administration to Obama’s presidency, Kaplan uses history to ask if cyber power can truly be decisive. His journalistic skills make for a thorough history—US cyber activities have their roots in the NSA and its long record of SIGINT collection. From the early days to the founding of USCYBERCOM, Kaplan highlights how policy makers were early to acknowledge yet slow to address many policy issues surrounding the new domain. One issue that repeats throughout the book is Kaplan’s conflation between information operations and cyber warfare. The former is intended to shape perceptions while the later is meant to creat physical or network effects. This misnomer also highlights the importance of clarifying between the human and electro-magnetic spectrum domains. Kaplan concludes that cyber analogies to nuclear deterrence are misguided—a point I agree with him on. Overall, this book provides an excellent primer on US cyber policy but falls short of capturing the nuances of operating in the digital realm. 🇺🇸💻
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kaplan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who earned his PhD in Political Science from MIT. In “Dark Territory”, Kaplan explores the history of cyber warfare through an American lens. Tracing its origins during the Reagan administration to Obama’s presidency, Kaplan uses history to ask if cyber power can truly be decisive. His journalistic skills make for a thorough history—US cyber activities have their roots in the NSA and its long record of SIGINT collection. From the early days to the founding of USCYBERCOM, Kaplan highlights how policy makers were early to acknowledge yet slow to address many policy issues surrounding the new domain. One issue that repeats throughout the book is Kaplan’s conflation between information operations and cyber warfare. The former is intended to shape perceptions while the later is meant to creat physical or network effects. This misnomer also highlights the importance of clarifying between the human and electro-magnetic spectrum domains. Kaplan concludes that cyber analogies to nuclear deterrence are misguided—a point I agree with him on. Overall, this book provides an excellent primer on US cyber policy but falls short of capturing the nuances of operating in the digital realm. 🇺🇸💻