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Book Cover for: Russian Information Warfare: Assault on Democracies in the Cyber Wild West, Bilyana Lilly

Russian Information Warfare: Assault on Democracies in the Cyber Wild West

Bilyana Lilly

Russian Information Warfare: Assault on Democracies in the Cyber Wild West examines how Moscow tries to trample the very principles on which democracies are founded and what we can do to stop it. In particular, the book analyzes how the Russian government uses cyber operations, disinformation, protests, assassinations, coup d'états, and perhaps even explosions to destroy democracies from within, and what the United States and other NATO countries can do to defend themselves from Russia's onslaught.

The Kremlin has been using cyber operations as a tool of foreign policy against the political infrastructure of NATO member states for over a decade. Alongside these cyber operations, the Russian government has launched a diverse and devious set of activities which at first glance may appear chaotic. Russian military scholars and doctrine elegantly categorizes these activities as components of a single strategic playbook --information warfare. This concept breaks down the binary boundaries of war and peace and views war as a continuous sliding scale of conflict, vacillating between the two extremes of peace and war but never quite reaching either. The Russian government has applied information warfare activities across NATO members to achieve various objectives. What are these objectives? What are the factors that most likely influence Russia's decision to launch certain types of cyber operations against political infrastructure and how are they integrated with the Kremlin's other information warfare activities? To what extent are these cyber operations and information warfare campaigns effective in achieving Moscow's purported goals?

Dr. Bilyana Lilly addresses these questions and uses her findings to recommend improvements in the design of U.S. policy to counter Russian adversarial behavior in cyberspace by understanding under what conditions, against what election components, and for what purposes within broader information warfare campaigns Russia uses specific types of cyber operations against political infrastructure.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Naval Institute Press
  • Publish Date: Sep 15th, 2022
  • Pages: 384
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.19in - 6.31in - 0.92in - 1.30lb
  • EAN: 9781682477199
  • Categories: Military - StrategySecurity - GeneralRussia - General

About the Author

Lilly, Bilyana: - Denounced by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Bilyana Lilly, CISSP, is a leader on cybersecurity and information warfare with over fifteen years of managerial, technical and research experience. Dr. Lilly helps boards and senior executives to make strategic decisions while accounting for evolving cyber and geopolitical risk. She is a mentor and speaker at DefCon, CyCon, the Executive Women's Forum and the Warsaw Security Forum. Dr. Lilly previously worked for the United Nations, Deloitte and the RAND Corporation. She has a PhD and three master's degrees, including a degree from Oxford University (with distinction). Dr. Lilly has published two books and has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, RIA Novosti, and ZDNet.

Praise for this book

"Russian Information Warfare, by Dr. Bilyana Lilly, takes on the serious and important topic of foreign cyber threats to the United States. Dr. Lilly brings significant expertise to the work. She also comes at the topic with very welcome thoroughness regarding the nature and background of the problem, as well the analysis of the issue."-- "Journal of Cyber Policy" (9/4/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"This is a well-done, highly researched book. The foundations here are definitely more of an academic paper turned into a full-on book (as the author states), but once you get going it is a great read.... Having a cohesive book on this topic that strives to be somewhat impartial is a godsend.... Do yourself a favor and check [out this book] as it is quite eye-opening." --Arcadia Pod

"If you want to understand how Russia seeks to undermine Western democracies, see the techniques they use, and understand their fondness for using local allies, or puppets, Russian Information Warfare is a must read."--Coot's Reviews

"Completed before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Dr. Lilly has researched and written an authoritative book of extraordinary breadth, containing careful analysis, abundant details, new insights, and extensive documentation. It should be read for its conceptual frameworks, the seven case studies, and the concluding policy recommendations." --Michael Rich, president and CEO, RAND Corporation

"For years, people have puzzled the relationship between cyber operations and information operations. This pathbreaking and carefully researched work examines how Russia has combined them against the West, showing how tightly they are intertwined. Its insights will prove invaluable in understanding Russia's information strategy in Ukraine and beyond." --Martin C. Libicki, author of Cyberspace in Peace and War, Second Edition

"If you think Russia is limited to fake Facebook accounts, Lilly's Russian Information Warfare will change your perspective. This well-researched book lays out Russia's approach to a critical part of modern conflict - the information space. Anyone interested in cybersecurity, disinformation, or Russia's foreign policy would benefit from reading this book." --J. Michael Daniel, president and CEO of Cyber Threat Alliance

"Russian Information Warfare" is a complex and multilayered book that both demands and rewards close reading as the case studies are brimming with detail and nuance. -- Diplomatic Courier