Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity by Florian J. Egloff

Description

Author: Egloff Florian J.

Package Dimensions: 20x234x436

Number Of Pages: 304

Release Date: 03-01-2022

Details: Product Description The universe of actors involved in international cybersecurity includes both state actors and semi- and non-state actors, including technology companies, state-sponsored hackers, and cybercriminals. Among these are semi-state actors–actors in a close relationship with one state who sometimesadvance this state’s interests, but are not organizationally integrated into state functions. In Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity, Florian J. Egloff argues that political relations in cyberspace fundamentally involve concurrent collaboration and competition between states and semi-state actors. Tounderstand the complex interplay of cooperation and competition and the power relations that exist between these actors in international relations, Egloff looks to a historical analogy: that of mercantile companies, privateers, and pirates.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 conductedstate-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, oftenburdened 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 understandingof 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 andglory 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. Review “It is well known that digital technologies are radically transforming the landscape of world politics, but theorists of international relations have struggled to catch up. In this wide-ranging and sophisticated study, Egloff digs deep into the newly emerging terrain of mercenary spyware companies,hackers-for-hire, and other ‘semi-state’ actors to examine the changing nature of sovereignty, state power, and cyber security. With thought-provoking historical analogies and carefully detailed case studies, Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity is essential reading.” — Ron Deibert, Director of theCitizen Lab, University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy”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 themyriad 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 thescholarship 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 twent