Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace

Erica D. Lonergan is Assistant Professor in the Army Cyber Institute at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She is also an Adjunct Research Scholar in the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Prior to that, she held positions as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Atlantic Council. Previously, Erica served as a Senior Director on the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission and held an appointment as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow, with placement at JPMorgan Chase and US Cyber Command. She also served as an Assistant Professor and Executive Director of the Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. Erica received her PhD in Political Science from Columbia University.Shawn W. Lonergan is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve 75th Innovation Command. Prior to joining the Reserves. Shawn was an active-duty cyber officer and played key roles in the National Security Agency (NSA) in the office of Tailored Access Operations; the United States Cyber Command in the Cyber National Mission Force; and the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught courses on cyber operations. Shawn is also the former head of the Department of Defense pilot program to protect critical infrastructure from systemic cyber attacks. Shawn is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds two Masters' degrees and a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University. Shawn most recently served as a Senior Advisor to the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsChapter 1: Why Is There No Escalation in Cyberspace?Chapter 2: Four Attributes of Cyber OperationsChapter 3: A Theory of Cyber EscalationChapter 4: Restraint and Accommodation: How Cyber Operations Can Diffuse CrisesChapter 5: Patterns of Escalation in CyberspaceChapter 6: Cyber Operations and the De-Escalation of International CrisesChapter 7: Plausible Escalation Scenarios for the Future: Cyber Operations in a Warfighting ContextChapter 8: Implications for Policymaking

Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace deftly demonstrates why the realities of cyberspace don't match up to the hype. Erica and Shawn Lonergan provide an exemplary frame to demystify the implications of cyberspace for geopolitics and, in doing so, demonstrates to security practitioners the nuances and challenges of nation-state cyber operations.