Russia Blends Cyber Attacks with Information War

Posted: September 17th, 2017

By Stefan Meister

Stefan Meister is Head of the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Previously, he worked as a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He was formerly visiting fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington D.C. writing on German-Russian relations and Russian disinformation. Meister has served several times as an election observer for the OSCE in post-Soviet countries. His areas of research include Russian domestic, foreign, and energy policy; the interrelationship between Russian domestic and foreign policy, and post-Soviet conflicts particularly in the South Caucasus. He recently published as a co-author the book "The Eastern Question. Russia, the West and Europe's Grey zone" at Brookings press (2016).

Russia has shown it is both willing and capable of using cyber capabilities to interfere in the West’s democratic elections. With the German elections coming up on September 24^th, it is likely Russia will again – much like the United States and France – seek to sow confusion and distrust intended to weaken the foundation of liberal democracy – its electoral process. The Cipher Brief’s Levi Maxey spoke with Stefan Meister, the head of the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations, about what tactics Russia will likely employ against Germany and what it ultimately seeks to accomplish in its efforts.

The Cipher Brief: Russia influence operations have been around for years, but have since taken on a modern twist by leveraging cyber capabilities. How have these been primarily used in various elections in Europe as well as the United States?

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