The Missing Cyber Thunder Run

Dr. Brandon Valeriano

Dr. Valeriano currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Marine Corps University and as a Senior Advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0. His research is focused on cyber security, popular culture and conflict, race and ethnicity politics, and international conflict. ​ Dr. Valeriano serves as the Area Editor for International Relations and Strategy for the Journal of Cybersecurity and a General Editor for the Oxford University Press Book Series on Disruptive Technology and International Security.

 

Thursday, March 23rd | 3:00 - 4:30 PM

LNCO 2120, Reading Room

 

The Missing Cyber Thunder Run: CYBER OPERATIONS DURING THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR

In this presentation, Dr. Brandon Valeriano will examine the evolving nature of Russia’s use of cyber operations and the digital domain to disrupt, spy upon, and degrade the adversary. Cyber operations remain a potent modern manifestation of political warfare expanding competition short of war. Yet, during the full-scale invasion that is the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022- ), while we do witness an uptick in cyber operations in this crucial case, there remains limited evidence of events that demonstrate severe or significant attacks directed at an adversary during what might be characterized as total war. In fact, we see a reduction in severity after the full-scale invasion that occurred. Cyber operations that can degrade an adversary’s critical infrastructure are no substitute for conventional attacks. There is also limited evidence for coordinated, multidomain operations between military and cyber operators. Despite an increase in cyber operations during the war, there remains little evidence that cyber capabilities change the course of war.