Sandworm

Why would one read a fiction if reality is even more stupefying? That feeling has been shared by those who, like myself, read Sandworm: being destabilized by the extent taken by cyberwarfare in interstate conflicts, by the blatant weakness of some of the most essential economic systems such as energy plants, distribution networks, postal system, food supply chain, railroad network.

Those who persist in thinking that viruses and other information system attacks are the result of post-teenagers seeking adrenaline or acknowledgement must review their opinion. Not only does this book remarkably highlights the predominant role of nations in cyberwarfare, but it also brutally shows that it is already undergoing, now, among us. The author also convincingly supports that our most critical information systems are already infected by sleeping malwares, waiting to be activated by cybermilitary groups when the situation justifies it. 

The uniqueness of this book is to throughoutly highlight the weakness of such systems, and the almost impossibility to secure them; to the extent that one of the main recommendations – the director of the French Network and Information Security Agency (FNISA) confirmed to have a similar opinion – consists in getting back to electromagnetic devices such as those of the 1970s. And concerning logistical flows, we shall get back to the counterfoil books (those of my generation will understand). 

Cyberweapons are widespread among countries, and some of them even put those at the heart of their strategic doctrine, Russia being the main accused of Sandworm’s argument. It would use cyberwarfare where a targeted destabilization and a controlled stalemate would be more advantageous than an open aggression or where it wants to keep a latent conflict to avoid stabilization, as it is the case in Ukraine, a country Russia started to harass when it was question of getting closer to Europe and NATO. 

Greenberg’s warnings do not stop there, and true or exaggerated, they are alarming. In the author’s opinion, only the United States and Russia would have done sufficient investments to protect themselves from such threats. 

Africa would also be the favored playing ground of cyberwarfare, though the author does not evoke the link between misinformation and weapon system. Indeed, several research unveiled that contents had been promoted in the Sahel region to stir up tensions between communities. 

Such evidence reinforce the idea that we have been living through a “dystopian instant” for a few years and should push us to widen our “cyber-doctrine” regarding threats to our economic systems by integrating destabilization by misinformation through social networks.