Wow! eBook
Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity
Author(s): Florian J. Egloff (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication Date: January 3, 2022
- Language: English
- Print length: 304 pages
- ISBN-10: 0197579280
- ISBN-13: 9780197579282
Book Description
Pirates, privateers, and mercantile companies were integral to maritime security between the 16th and 19th centuries. In fact, privateers and mercantile companies, like today’s tech companies and private cyber contractors, had a particular relationship to the state in that they conducted state-sanctioned private attacks against foreign vessels. Pirates, like independent hackers, were sometimes useful allies, and other times enemies. These actors traded, explored, plundered, and controlled sea-lanes and territories across the world’s oceans–with state navies lagging behind, often burdened by hierarchy.
Today, as cyberspace is woven into the fabric of all aspects of society, the provision and undermining of security in digital spaces has become a new arena for digital pirates, privateers, and mercantile companies. In making the analogy to piracy and privateering, Egloff provides a new understanding of how attackers and defenders use their proximity to the state politically and offers lessons for understanding how actors exercise power in cyberspace. Drawing on historical archival sources, Egloff identifies the parallels between today’s cyber in-security and the historical quest for gold and glory on the high seas. The book explains what the presence of semi-state actors means for national and international security, and how semi-state actors are historically and contemporarily linked to understandings of statehood, sovereignty, and the legitimacy of the state.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“At last an analysis of cyberspace that moves beyond 20th century analogues. Egloff’s thorough and insightful recovery of 16th, 17th, and 19th century piracy and privateering dynamics is a truly pioneering study in capturing what continually escapes most of the current thinking on cyberspace and the myriad of actors empowered by it. By reading cyberspace through these eras, Egloff not only gives agency to non-state actors, he brings greater sophistication to contemporary debates over information-sharing and public private partnerships in cybersecurity. It is a fresh and welcome addition to the scholarship in the field.” — Nina A. Kollars, Associate Professor, Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute, Naval War College
“Cybersecurity is full of swashbucklers and scallywags, but the piracy analogy has not been fully drawn on until now. In this important contribution to the international relations literature on cybersecurity, Florian Egloff compares the twenty-first century to the golden age of sail to explain why, when, and how governments partner with contractors, criminals, and vigilantes. With its rich bounty of empirical detail, this book will reward hackers, hornswogglers, and landlubbers alike.” — Jon R. Lindsay, author of Information Technology and Military Power
“Privateers at sea were once a common practice. Should private companies and groups today be allowed to ‘hack-back’ against cyber criminals and governments? Egloff’s pathbreaking work makes good use of history and security studies to explore some of the most pressing problems we face in cybersecurity.” — Joseph S. Nye, author of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump
