Military and intelligence leaders agree that the next major war is not
likely to be fought on the battleground but in cyber space. Richard
Stiennon argues the era of cyber warfare has already begun. Recent cyber
attacks on United States government departments and the Pentagon
corroborate this claim. China has compromised email servers at the
German Chancellery, Whitehall, and the Pentagon. In August 2008, Russia
launched a cyber attack against Georgia that was commensurate with their
invasion of South Ossetia. This was the first time that modern cyber
attacks were used in conjunction with a physical attack. Every day,
thousands of attempts are made to hack into America's critical
infrastructure. These attacks, if successful, could have devastating
consequences. In Surviving Cyberwar, Stiennon introduces cyberwar,
outlines an effective defense against cyber threats, and explains how to
prepare for future attacks. The book: -begins with Shawn Carpenter and
his discovery that China had hacked into his work place, Sandia Labs;
-follows the rise of cyber espionage on the part of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA) as increasingly sophisticated and overt attacks
are carried out against government and military networks around the
world; -moves from cyber espionage to cyberwar itself, revealing the
rise of distributed denial of service (DDoS) as a means of attacking
servers, websites, and countries; -provides a historical perspective on
technology and warfare is provided, drawing on lessons learned from Sun
Tsu to Lawrence of Arabia to Winston Churchill; and -finishes by
considering how major democracies are preparing for cyberwar and
predicts ways that a new era of cyber conflict is going to impact the
Internet, privacy, and the way the world works. This text is a
stimulating and informative look at one of the gravest threats to
Homeland Security today, offering new insights to technologists on the
front lines, helping policy makers understand the challenges they face,
and providing guidance for every organization to help reduce exposure to
cyber threats. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with the
current geopolitical state of affairs.
