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Cyber Dragon: Inside China's Information Warfare and Cyber Operations (Praeger Security International) by [Cheng, Dean]

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Dean Cheng

Cyber Dragon: Inside China's Information Warfare and Cyber Operations (Praeger Security International) Kindle Edition

by Dean Cheng (Author)

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This book provides a framework for assessing China's extensive cyber espionage efforts and multi-decade modernization of its military, not only identifying the "what" but also addressing the "why" behind China's focus on establishing information dominance as a key component of its military efforts.

• Provides a detailed overview and thorough analysis of Chinese cyber activities

• Makes extensive use of Chinese-language materials, much of which has not been utilized in the existing Western literature on the subject

• Enables a better understanding of Chinese computer espionage by placing it in the context of broader Chinese information warfare activities

• Analyzes Chinese military modernization efforts, providing a context for the ongoing expansion in China's military spending and reorganization

• Offers readers policy-relevant insight into Chinese military thinking while maintaining academic-level rigor in analysis and source selection

Length: 301 pages

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Page Flip: Enabled

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Product details

File Size: 4690 KB
Print Length: 301 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1440835640
Publisher: Praeger (November 14, 2016)
Publication Date: November 14, 2016
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01M687LCE
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray:

Not Enabled

Word Wise: Not Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,046,615 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #868 in National & International Security (Kindle Store)
- #870 in Military Science History
- #364 in Online Safety & Piracy

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Bob Gibson

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June 2, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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Don't Read Much Fiction

The Cyber Domain is the Ideological Battleground

January 26, 2020

Format: Hardcover

The military speaks of domains: land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. The latter of the four is a domain like the rest in that it can be used to further political, economic or social agendas, is limited by physical characteristics (albeit less tangible) and can be contested between state and non-state actors. But the cyber domain has also become the primary medium to pass information and smooth general communication and social mobilization. Land is the easiest of the domains to comprehend, with physical borders drawn easily on maps and where politics (as well as “politics by other means”) is more accustomed to resolving disputes. At least since 1982 and UNCLOS, the sea domain has an understood set of political borders and norms. Air and space are more difficult domains on which to draw borders considering the trajectory of civilian aircraft routes and the necessary orbit of space satellites.

What makes cyberspace the most difficult domain to manage are both its physical characteristics and the information that pulses through its waves, wires, hubs, towers, repeaters and modems. Information includes news, entertainment, communication, strategic communication, psychological operations, propaganda and malicious cyber attacks. In most of the world, information is related to education and the freedom of expression which, when honored, has the ability to expand a people’s understanding and correct their misunderstandings. To others, unbridled information is a hazard, used to manipulate, stir unrest and breed ignorance. Like the land and sea domains, some countries would prefer to control their cyber borders, prevent attacks by malicious software, control for lies and propaganda and in an offensive sense, seize the initiative of attack in the event of conflict.

In 2000, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) People’s Liberation Army (PLA) divested itself of all commercial business management, except telecommunications (pg. 30). Dean Cheng in “Cyber Dragon” tells us why. Unlike many books on China, which try to break off more than they can chew, Dean remains focused on the sole objective of dissecting and explaining the many pieces of the PLA’s strategy to control and manipulate the cyber domain. Mandarin speakers will appreciate that Dean uses Chinese characters to spell out hundreds of key military and cyber terms extracted directly from PLA strategy and research documents. When too many English terms fail to translate neatly into Chinese character form and PLA intent, the Chinese words and Dean’s analysis is something that only more cumbersome military studies provide.

But “Cyber Dragon” is anything but cumbersome. Dean takes the time to explain terms and PLA structures that media and even long-term China specialists take for granted (or perhaps themselves fail to fully understand). At the heart of the PLA’s cyber strategy is san zhan (political warfare) which itself can be divided into public opinion, psychological and legal warfare (pg. 42). On the one hand, cyber is a domain that is vulnerable to attack in a physical sense via any number of viruses and malware. As any nation would, China as a government and PLA as a party tool continue to expand cyber barriers and controls to limit China’s vulnerability to attack. But these same walls (including the Great Cyber Wall) are easily manipulated to control for public opinion, divert search results to execute psychological maneuvers and the information itself can be changed to support a historical, legal argument.

The CCP can rightly argue that media control ensures the government can squash misinformation during a crisis and manage a dangerous outbreak of SARS or, as we see today, the Wuhan (Corona) virus (pg. 73). The CCP also recognizes that cyber is dangerous for its ability to whip up revolutions and stir the masses. Dean explains how the CCP learned and applied the lessons of information warfare from the 1982 Falkland’s War, Gulf Wars and Bosnia and the lessons of the color and flower revolutions in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Cyber Dragon takes the time to investigate each branch of the PLA’s cyber strategy, each managerial office and action arm. Dean’s meticulous research, which includes dozens of Chinese military source documents and .cn articles, reveals an extremely organized information apparatus, which in the hands of a totalitarian regime can yield devastating internal and external effects. As Dean argues, this new Information Operations (IO) construct resets the entire playing field of war and threatens to make all other IO strategies obsolete (pg. 90). China has consistently held that its military modernization is for defensive purposes only. In the cyber domain, the Chinese documents admit that the best defense is a strong offensive, which includes extensive Electronic Warfare gadgetry and targeting (pg. 94-97).

Added to cyber’s offensive nature is the fact that the CCP makes no distinction between peacetime and wartime in preparation for a potential future battle. Electronic Warfare is no good unless it knows the vulnerabilities, frequencies and tactics of the enemy, which is why information gathering never stops (pg. 112). Let’s put this in to perspective. “These efforts are no different than how every state behaves, in terms of collecting intelligence about potential allies and adversaries. Where the PRC has begun to diverge from other states’ practices, however, is their growing focus on dominating the information space in both peacetime and wartime… while somewhat constrained in peacetime by the international system, are likely to be more comprehensive as well as much more pronounced in event of war (pg. 202).” Dean would add that the English “deterrence” is not quite the same as the Mandarin “Weishe” where the latter seeks to compel deterrence AND submission (pg. 151).

While the last four decades saw China and the world developing an interdependency in terms of technology, at least China is noting a need for cyber independence. Many like Michael Pillsbury would argue that China was the bigger winner in technology partnerships and cultural exchanges, taking in more than it was giving back. Here in early 2020, we see the US closing down China cultural centers in Universities, removing its Peace Corps program from China while China develops its first locally-produced cell phone and dominates the 5G industry. The combination of increased self-sufficiency in technology and decoupling of education and development exchanges means China and its competitors will grow more insular and more ignorant of each other.

For many valid reasons, China desires software independence (pg. 148), Chinese copies of google, amazon, paypal and ebay and is focused not only on a potential US threat but threats from within and on every inch of its border (pg. 154).

Cyber Dragon is not a sensationalized study or a call to arms. Dean warns that others need not play the IO game the same way China does (pg. 218) but should at least understand the threat. Readers should be glad to see Dean’s thoughtful explanations on many PLA associated terms and concepts like: Military Unit Cover Designators (MUCD), the military structure, regional responsibilities within the PLA, General Staff, Political and Armaments Departments. Each of the previous has their role in China’s most important, and possibly most potent political, social and military tool: control of the cyber domain.

The debates on the uses and control of the cyber domain will continue to spur not just military discussions but discussions of law, liberal values and international relations. Unlike any other domain, the cyber domain is perceived by liberal societies to be a medium of open information and an example of many freedoms. To other government systems, the cyber domain is like any other and should be under the control of sovereign states. In essence, this is the debate at the United Nations where all of Africa and many other countries support the Chinese and Russian concept for cyber structures. The argument is formed out of a need to control for cyber crimes. But the same proposal will limit personal and social freedoms.

China is a country with rule by law and not rule of law (pg. 205). Rule by law fears the ignorance and enlightenment of populations and therefore considers information a liability. Rule of law knows the dangers of ignorance and is not immune to the misuse of information and dangers of disrespectful social discourse but strives that no one be above the law. The best character to cultivate in a society is not blind obedience or unrestrained freedom but a character against which, there is no law (Galatians 5: 22-23).

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