Latest Articles about Cyber
China’s Draft Counter-Terrorism Law
On November 3, 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) published the much-anticipated draft “Counter-Terrorism Law”–consisting of 106 articles in 10 chapters–for public review, drawing sharp international criticism (NPC website). In February, presumably in response to international criticism as well as domestic... MORE
Network Warfare in China’s 2015 Defense White Paper
The recent release of China’s biannual defense white paper (DWP) has sparked a flurry of commentary by Western People’s Liberation Army (PLA) analysts. One common theme in many of these analyses is that China is placing an increased “emphasis on cyber power” as the “newest... MORE
Ukraine’s Ineffectual Information Ministry: Underfunded or Misconceived?
Informational warfare has been a critical part of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. As Russian military reporter and veteran of the Russia’s two wars in Chechnya, Arkadiy Babchenko, argues, “I believe this [the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war] is the first war in the entire history triggered... MORE
Russia’s Information Warfare Targets Washington and NATO
On April 16–17, the fourth Moscow International Security Conference was held amidst continued disagreement between Russia and the United States and its allies over Ukraine. As usual, the conference was addressed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as Army-General Valery... MORE
China’s Evolving Perspectives on Network Warfare: Lessons from the Science of Military Strategy
When tracking the development of China’s military capabilities, Western People’s Liberation Army (PLA) watchers encounter frequent challenges in determining which data sources they should draw upon for their analysis. Purely quantitative measurements of the PLA’s nominal force strength, though often valuable, may not provide insights... MORE
China’s Maodun: A Free Internet Caged by the Chinese Communist Party
China pursues a strategy of aggressive cyberspace management and is in the midst of fostering a military cyber force to further the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) primary interest: to stay in power. Secondary considerations that directly or indirectly support the continuation of CCP rule include... MORE
Chinese Views on the Information “Center of Gravity”: Space, Cyber and Electronic Warfare
This paper seeks to examine the intersection of Chinese thought on cyber, space and electronic warfare, particularly in the context of command, control, computers, communication, intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (C4ISR) complexes and their use in the current military paradigm. Space warfare is still in a... MORE
AQAP’s Virtual Jihadist – Bakhsuruf al-Danquluh
Following the notorious Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris, online supporters of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State spent considerable time jostling with each other over which group could claim credit for the deadly attack. Before al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a lengthy statement,... MORE
China’s “Server Sinification” Campaign for Import Substitution: Strategy and Snowden (Part 2)
Since 2009, the Chinese government, in cooperation with state-run and private firms, has conducted an import substitution campaign in its computer server market, which is currently dominated by U.S. information technology (IT) companies IBM, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard (HP). China’s policy objective has been to reduce... MORE
“Ruling the Internet According to Law”: Chinese Internet Governance in 2014 and Beyond
The Chinese government is known for its heavy-handed censorship of the country’s Internet, now with a user base of about 665 million. After the blockage or shut down of a series of social media accounts, commercial websites, text messaging applications, online libraries and cloud computing... MORE