Unmasking Maskirovka

Book excerpt: In sharp contrast to its utopian heyday, cyberspace is now a hotly contested domain in which nations, corporations, and individuals leverage information for strategic gain. Recent revelations and reportage on cyber espionage, manipulation, and digital disinformation campaigns underscore today's political and technical challenges. Each day we are exposed to different types of influence operations, running the gamut from commercial efforts all the way to political disinformation campaigns that aim to subvert democratic processes and alter political outcomes. "Unmasking Maskirovka" details the perceptions of Russian strategic and military leaders and their thought processes for employing cyber warfare capabilities. In "Unmasking Maskirovka," Daniel Bagge contrasts national strategic approaches in cyberspace to enable a better understanding of the long-term goals behind Russia's cyber warfare campaigns. This book provides an in-depth and up-to-date examination of the importance of cyberspace operations, why such activities are so often successful, and how influence operations span the spectrum of conventional and digital statecraft.