Cyber Warfare – Truth, Tactics, and Strategies: Strategic concepts and truths to help you and your organization survive on the battleground of cyber warfare

"Cyber Warfare – Understanding the Truth and Strategies; A detailed exploration of strategic concepts and essential insights to navigate the world of cyber warfare" authored by Chase Cunningham was a captivating and enlightening read that serves as a definitive manual for individuals serious about safeguarding their cybersecurity. Being a recognized authority in the field, Cunningham shares profound perspectives on the intricate nature of contemporary cyber warfare, establishing this book as essential reading material.The book excels in its thorough examination of cyber warfare tactics and strategies, stressing the crucial importance of adopting a "Strategic Thinking with Tactical Actions" approach. This guiding principle is intricately woven throughout the text, offering a solid framework for comprehending how to maneuver through the complexities of cyberspace. Cunningham's emphasis on "Strategically Defending the Edge" carries significant weight, underscoring the need for preemptive defensive actions to safeguard organizational boundaries.A standout feature of "Cyber Warfare" lies in its ability to simplify intricate cybersecurity concepts into practical strategies. Cunningham's talent for demystifying sophisticated cyber threats and defense mechanisms ensures that both seasoned professionals and newcomers can grasp the content with ease. His discourse on the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats and imperative adaptive defense tactics is particularly enlightening.As an individual deeply engaged in cybersecurity matters, I found the real-life illustrations and case studies provided within this book incredibly beneficial. The examples not only show how different strategies work effectively but also highlight the serious outcomes of having insufficient cyber defenses. Cunningham's thoughts on the impact of AI and machine learning in cyber warfare are relevant and stimulating, aligning well with current trends and future predictions in the cybersecurity field.For those seeking to enhance their knowledge and skills in cybersecurity, "Cyber Warfare – Truth, Tactics and Strategies" is a strong read. Chase Cunningham has created a comprehensive and insightful guide that is both educational and engaging. Highly recommended for cybersecurity experts, IT leaders and anyone keen on grasping the complexities of cyber warfare. This book serves not just as a read but as a strategic resource for navigating through the ever-changing cyber battlefield.

I've been working in and around IT security for almost two decades now, and have slogged through so many books on how to protect your users' and customers' data that were painfully obvious, brutally boring, painfully technical, or a combination of those three.Chase Cunningham's book is none of those three categories. I actually ENJOYED reading this. It's accessible and relevant to everyone in the stack, from the junior analyst to the C-suite and board-level who see security as an existential matter for their organizations.There are a few different parallel themes here. First, IT-organizational: cloud; Zero Trust; and Automation/Operationalization. Man, I love that word. It's satisfying to say it out loud...But I digress. Those underlying themes are reinforced by the critical theme of Zero Trust: micro-segmentation.Full disclosure here: I work for Illumio, so I'm very focused on the whys and hows of micro-seg. I'm coming at it from half a decade of trying to protect networks from the inside out. I've seen Zero Trust go from being a vague and nebulous term to buzzwords to an industry-standard that organizations aspire to achieve.I digress again...If you are searching for a way to protect your environment, to be an important part of your organization's thought leadership in a critical transition from traditional methodologies that are ineffective and obsolete, then you should read this book. It's well-written and takes on a broad subject in an easy to digest format for all levels of knowledge, ability, and position.Whether you're directly responsible for security or running the company, this is a solid and essential read.

For those who are already steeped in the principles of warfare, Dr. Cunningham's book is a modern introduction to cyber warfare: the whys, the hows, and the significance for future engagements. It includes plenty of details about cyber attacks that have made the headlines in the past few years, as well as a few that didn't, and lays out the implications for defenders who may not realize they're on the battlefield (hospitals, shipping and logistics companies, and more). He covers everything from denial of service attacks to disinformation campaigns, with a stop along the way to explain why it's so hard to get autonomous vehicles secured.If you read nothing else, take chapter 7 to heart: the strategic plans for effective cyber warfare that should be in place as soon as possible. The security model most frequently dubbed "zero trust" in the industry today (and which Cunningham champions in his day job as a Forrester analyst) is described here more usefully as Edge and Entity Security. The most important point that will resonate with professional defenders is that the network will always be contested space, which is why entities need more verification and have an "edge" that travels with them in this mobile environment. The one argument that I found a bit jarring was the (correct) example of how zone segmentation proved disastrous as a strategy in Iraqi cities during that war, but later in the chapter, one of the cyber warfare strategies espoused was ... more segmentation. Turning your own users into "insurgents" by excessively restricting their movements and over-using authentication is a real problem that CISOs have to avoid when building a more defensible infrastructure.The most enjoyable part of the book for me was the commentary sprinkled here and there from Cunningham's own perspective (including the assertion that there is no real "artificial intelligence" yet). The one thing that would make this book even better is if he recorded the audio version himself.