InfoSec Odds and Ends

Last Updated on Thursday, 4 March 2010 01:58 Written by Jeffreycarr Thursday, 4 March 2010 01:56

Here are some of the important events of the last few days that I haven’t had time to blog about but would like to briefly share with you:

• The takedown of the Mariposa botnet is a wonderful case study of how the collaboration between international law enforcement agencies with the assistance of private industry can beat the bad guys.
• Forbes Special Report: The Real Meaning of Cyber Warfare
• Digital Sky Technologies CEO Yuri Milner, who’s Russian company now owns over 5% of Facebook has $1 billion to invest in social media outside of Russia, and he’s interested in Twitter.
• Hack-Jet

Cyber Warfare: Don’t inflate it. Don’t underestimate it.

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 February 2010 08:16 Written by Jeffreycarr Thursday, 11 February 2010 08:16

I was recently interviewed by Mac Slocum for an article at O’Reilly Radar which, I have to say, is a pretty damn, good interview!

Thanks, Mac – you made me sound smarter than I really am – always a good thing!

Why I wrote “Inside Cyber Warfare” the way I did

Last Updated on Friday, 29 January 2010 10:57 Written by Jeffreycarr Friday, 29 January 2010 10:57

So far, I’ve been happy with the reviews that this book has received, but a few critics have taken me to task for the book having a lack of focus or a clear story arc. These are fair criticisms and they were presented in a balanced way, however I think its important to relay exactly why I wrote the book in the way that I did.

Conflicts and espionage in cyberspace is a rapidly evolving domain. It’s impossible to fully scope out something that is morphing so quickly, and even worse, is being described so imprecisely. Because of that, I decided to create a book that provided a multi-tiered framework upon which readers can continue to build their understanding of how cyberspace is used to further geopolitical Will by State and Non-State actors.

I purposefully did not explore examples of the U.S. engaging in cyber conflicts or espionage not because they don’t exist, but because it doesn’t fit the scope of my book. Inside Cyber Warfare is about how States are using Non-State actors to further there geopolitical goals while maintaining plausible deniability. The U.S. doesn’t do that, nor do many other Western nations. Instead, I focused on those States that do. Granted, there is much more information about Russian activities then anyone else, but that’s because the Kremlin and its supporters among various Russian youth organizations are so happy to oblige intelligence analysts like myself with rich examples of such actions. However, I do cover many other nations besides the Russian Federation with as much detail as I could find in the time available to me. Again, use it as a framework to build upon.

A couple of reviewers suggested a sequel. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m up to writing another book, but I’m proud of the one I wrote and I hope it will help those responsible for making decisions in this arena to do so with a broader understanding of its intricacies.