Section ICyber Operations Summary
I.1 Introduction
Section I provides examples that span the current history and development of cyber operations. This progression spans from early hactivism to current political uses of social media platforms. Section I also includes examples from simple, experimental hacks, to nation‐state operators performing cyberspace espionage and information operations (IO) (Table I.1).
As shown in Table I.1, cyber operations have often included a nation‐state interest, starting with “The Cuckoo’s Egg” (Stoll, 2005) documenting the Former Soviet Union (FSU) use of hackers to attempt to steal U.S. military secrets near the end of the Cold War (Chapter 4). The near success described in “The Cuckoo’s Egg,” in the late 1980s, likely inspired Russian operators to continue their cyber collection pursuits, eventually succeeding with Operation Moonlight Maze in the mid‐ to late 1990s.
During this hacking and experimentation period of networked computers, we also looked at potentially damaging hacks (Chapter 9). For example, the Jester Worm (1997), the Slammer Worm (2003), and the Sobig Worm (2003) were examples of critical infrastructure denial capabilities. These hacks produced effects that included shutting down telephony systems, nuclear reactors, trains, telephones, and air traffic control systems.
While hackers have provided worst‐case scenarios by literally shutting off critical parts of our infrastructure, nation‐states have also leveraged their hackers ...