4.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Scholars of war and conflict have long divided their subject into three segments: the strategic, the operational, and the technical. The most widely discussed of these, strategy, focuses on big questions like deterrence. Technical analysis is also common in specialized courses and, in a topic like cybersecurity, requires a fair amount of computer science knowledge. But operational analysis is still too rare. This course takes up this operational lens and uses it to understand how states project power in cyberspace. We will establish a model for offensive and defensive cyber operations, introducing key terms and concepts that can be flexibly deployed to understand a wide range of incidents. Then we will use this model in analyzing a series of case studies. In each case, we will examine how different groups of government hackers performed their missions and what outcome resulted. With this solid foundation established, we will then use our operational understanding to re-examine strategic ideas and policy debates like deterrence and defend forward in a new light.