lundi 24 mars 2014

Cybertactics, leading the digital war: the cyber french flair ?



« Cybertactique : conduire la guerre numérique » éditions Nuvis




Cybertactics, leading the digital war is one of the very few French books dealing with cyberspace combat. Written by a French military officer, the book tackles the issue of cyber operations within military actions using a multidisciplinary approach mixing  history, legal aspects, technics, strategy and geopolitics.



The book was awarded by the French Minister of Defence during the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC 2014). 





Cyberwar may not take place (as Thomas Rid said in his book), but no future conflict will be without a cyber component. With this as a starting point, the author continues his study of conflicts in cyberspace (he wrote his first book last year : Cyberstrategy, the art of digital war).


Considering operation Olympic Games, the various programmes to monitor electronic communications (PRISM) or the massive espionage campaigns attributed to China, no future decision maker can ignore this topic. Thus an assessment of its impact in the conduct of world affairs seems necessary. This book is, therefore, divided into three parts, making the link between e-strategy and tactics (Part I), leading us to cyberspace operations (Part II) , and then examines the impact of cyberspace on various operational functions (Part III). The author also explores the concept of digital insurrection and puts recent developments of offensive tools into perspective.


As a useful handbook for the decision-maker facing digital conflicts, this book lays the foundation of tactics adapted to cyberspace. Its multidisciplinary approach combining geopolitical, technical, tactical and history, strengthens the newly born French cyberstrategy.







Table of Contents


Foreword ........... 5

Introduction ........... 11


Part I - Cyberstrategy and Tactics ........... 19


Chapter1 - Cyberspace myths and representations ....... 21

The word and the idea ... 23

Geopolitics of cyberspace? ... 26

Chapter 2 - General Tactics theoretical background ....... 37

The three levels of military action ... 38

From the classical model to the digital age ... 46

Tactical basis and connection with Technics ... 54

Chapter 3 - Strategic principles and their consequences ....... 61

Freedom of action and initiative as a consequence ... 63

Concentration of effort or concentration of "forces" ? ... 66

The economy of means ... 68

Is attribution difficult and imputation impossible? ... 72

Strategic deterrence and tactical consequences ... 77


Part II - Operations in cyberspace ........... 81


Chapter 1 - Concepts and doctrines of tactics in cyberspace ....... 83

Physical layer : sovereignty issues ... 94

The logic layer : the reign of code ... 101

Cognitive layer : information, misinformation , deception ... 106

Digital combat and urban warfare ... 113

Chapter 2 - The offensive model ....... 119

Chapter 3 - The defensive battle ....... 135

Chapter 4 – Insurgency and counter-insurgency in cyberspace ....... 149

Chapter 5 - Tools and weapons of cyberspace operations ....... 167



Part III - The Challenges of Cyber ​​War ........... 181


Chapter 1 – Decide and command ....... 183

Chapter 2 - The decision-making process ....... 193

Chapter 3 - Intelligence and cyberspace ....... 209


Conclusion ........... 223

Glossary ........... 227

Annex 1 ........... 241

Appendix 2 ........... 245

Acronyms ........... 251

Bibliography & sources ........... 253
Acknowledgements ........... 259
Table of Contents ........... 261



Where can I find it ?



If you live outside France, you can order online following one of these links:

Amazon:








Other online shop:


You can also try on the editor's website : Nuvis ……. by the way it's in French :-) 
Want to read it in english? let me know and post a comment !

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