The Art of Cyber Warfare: Strategic and Tactical Approaches for Attack and Defense in the Digital Age

The Art of Cyber Warfare explores the strategic and tactical approaches for offense and defense in the digital age. Drawing on historical conflicts from Sun Tzu to Carl von Clausewitz, the author illustrates that, despite changed conditions such as time, location, means, and resources – but not the laws of physics – it is possible to learn from past actions and reactions. The author aims to demonstrate in this book that, in reality, we have only transferred old methods into our current era but have forgotten to translate their reasons, effects, and the resulting lessons. For, as it has been for thousands of years, the reasons for human-created conflicts remain the same: wealth, fame, power, honor, or desire. Can we learn something from history for present and future (cyber) wars? Introduction: 1984 and the Lessons of the Past Contents Part I Lessons from the Past 1 The Art of Cyber Warfare and the 13 Lessons of Sun Tzu Sun Tzu’s Writing Style and the Transfer of His Work to the Present Day What is the Art of War? Strategy and Tactics The Art of War by Sun Tzu Lesson 1: Planning and Preparation Lesson 2: On the Art of War, or: When Initiating Actions Lesson 3: Attack with Strategy, or: On the Proposals of Victory and Defeat Lesson 4: Tactics Lesson 5: Power Lesson 6: Weaknesses and Strengths Lesson 7: Struggle for the Initiative, or: The Strategies of the Direct and Indirect Lesson 8: The Nine Variable Factors Lesson 9: The Army on the March Lesson 10: Terrain Lesson 11: The Nine Types of Terrain Lesson 12: On the Art of Attacking with Fire Lesson 13: On the Use of Spies Conclusion: The Essence of the Art of War 2 Codes and Secret Messages: From the Ancient Origins of Steganography and Cryptography and their Relevance to Today Hidden Messages: The Invention of Steganography The Holy Grail of Steganography The Ancient Beginnings of Cryptography The Caesar Shift The Oriental Beginnings of Cryptoanalysis Cipher vs. Code: The Secret Messages of the Popes Politicians Beware: The Drama of Mary Stuart’s Encrypted Letters The Vigenère Encryption: In Search of the Indecipherable Cipher At the Transition to Modernity: How Ancient Algorithms Became Modern Encryption Technology Through Mechanics The Enigma Principle and the Endless Race Against Time A Different Story of Cryptocurrencies Outlook: An Arms Race Without End? 3 Stuxnet and the Poisoned Well: What Connects the Middle Ages with the Cyber World The castle as a symbol of medieval defense Stuxnet and a Lesson from the Middle Ages Built Defense The Fall of the Knights From the Middle Ages to the future and from the crossbow to the cyber troop: A brief history of technology in cyberspace Part II Modern and Hybrid Warfare 4 “The End Justifies the Means” or: the Legacy of Carl von Clausewitz War According to Clausewitz The Theory of War According to Clausewitz Types of War Clausewitz and the New Wars The Hybrid War as a “new” Form of Warfare A Definition of Hybrid Warfare So, is Cyberwar a Form of Hybrid War? The Definition of Tactics and Strategy According to Clausewitz 5 The Shift of Powers, Borders, and Resources The Nature of Cyber Warfare Digital Weapons and the “Silent Arms Race” What is the Goal of Cyber Warfare? Does Cyberwar Have a Purpose? Cyberwar and Cyber Diplomacy 6 New Rules for a New War Why are There Even Rules for War? On the International Legal Classification of Cyberwar The Cyber War and the Transformation of Armed Violence Cyber as the Fifth Dimension? The Weapons of the War of the Future The Automation of War The Mathematics of the New War Real-Time as a New Challenge The Current Situation: Power Struggle and Power Vacuum The Montreux Document as a Model? On the Relevance of the Geneva Conventions Necessity of a New Language Part III The Art of Cyber Warfare 7 Techniques and Tactics of Cyber Warfare The Importance of a Global Internet Infrastructure Technology and Tactics of Cyber Warfare The Difference Between Warriors and Soldiers in Digital Urban Warfare The New Technology of War The Cyber War as a War Without Humans A Market for Vulnerabilities Cybersecurity in the Digitally Networked World A Race Against Time Can a State Protect Itself Against Cyber Warfare? 8 Survival in Cyberspace: Strategies for Every Individual The “Byzantine Problem”, the Human Factor, and a Warning Be a Spartan! (Re-)Know Yourself The Failure of the Senses How do I Hide in the Cyber World? Ghost in the Shell A Note on Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Do What No One Expects Nothing is for Free! “Back to the Roots” The Psychology of the Masses, the Individual, and the Primitive Man 9 Propaganda—How it Worked in the Past and What it is Today Propaganda as Part of Digital Warfare More Than Propaganda The War of the Future is an Information War From the Cold War to the Iron Curtain 2.0 Propaganda as the Opposite of Diplomacy At the Border of Propaganda: Technology for Influencing Language and Human Behavior Part IV Outlook: The Future of Cyber Warfare 10 The World in 2084 On the Relevance of this Book Some Thoughts on the Current War in Ukraine and Israel The Winners Write History The World in 2084 A Glimmer of Hope References