How computer hacking is becoming Russia’s weapon of choice

In his 2007 address to the Annual Security Conference in Munich, Vladimir Putin threw down a gauntlet to the West. Attacking what he called "illegal" unilateral military action by the US, he hinted that Russia would build its capability in information warfare to counter American and NATO expansion.

In the same year, a Russian policy doctrine noted that as the world became more digitally connected, the well-being of nation states would become dependent on data and and its rapid movement. Back then, information warfare was just a sideshow, and Putin’s emphasis was on more traditional weapon systems. But things have changed. In the decade since, Russia has rapidly developed its information warfare capability and deployed it in conflicts in Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Read more...