Description

Total length of the course: 2-4 hours

Overhyped and misunderstood in equal measure, offensive cyber operations are capable of extraordinary strategic effect — yet far more constrained, costly, and failure-prone than their reputation suggests. This course builds a rigorous, practitioner-informed understanding of how they actually work: from strategic logics below the threshold of warfare, to the painstaking multi-phase anatomy of a real operation. Country profiles of the US, Russia, China, and North Korea reveal how culture, doctrine, and patience — or the lack of it — shape capability and outcomes, before the course turns to the forces reshaping the field: AI, the proliferation of smart devices, and the deepening integration of cyber tools into modern warfare.

Content details

Introduction
Defining cyber operations
Introduction
Offensive
Cyber
Operations
Why offensive cyber operations?
Introduction
The promise
The reality
So why?
History of offensive cyber operations
Introduction
1940s-1970s
1970s-1990s
1990s-
Effects
Introduction
Disrupt
Degrade
Destroy
Deceive
Anatomy of an offensive cyber operation
Introduction
Ground rules
Operational phases
Phases may vary
Operational anecdote
Operational failures
Success in offensive cyber
Introduction
Where does it fit?
Campaign between campaigns
Strategic surprise
Combined arms
Countries and cyber
Introduction
United States
Russia
China
North Korea
Future trends
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence
Smart devices
Integrated cyber
Takeaways
Takeaways
Additional information
References