Cyber Warfare

Posted: January 3rd, 2016

By Piret Pernik

Piret Pernik is a Research Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security. Her research focuses on the political and strategic aspects of cybersecurity. Before joining ICDS, she worked at the Policy Planning Department of the Estonian Ministry of Defence. In 2009-2012, she served as an advisor to the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament). She has lectured on international relations in Estonia and has carried out sociological research projects at Tallinn University.

The Russian government is considered to be one of the most advanced cyber actors globally, with highly sophisticated cyber capabilities on par with the other major cyber powers. Open source information about Russian cyber programs and funding is scarce, but an ultimate goal of the government is to gain information superiority, both in peacetime and in military conflicts.

According to U.S. intelligence, Russia is a top nation state threat to American interests. Russian armed forces have been establishing a cyber command and a specialized branch to carry out computer network operations. It is likely that Russia aspires to integrate cyber into all military services. For example, the Russian government news agency TASS has reported that strategic missile forces are establishing special cyber units, and according to Russian general Yuri Kuznetsov, cyber defense units in the Russian armed forces will acquire operational capabilities by 2017.

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