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Augusta University experts looking for clues to predict future cyber attacks

Jun 10, 2021

2 min

Craig Albert, PhDLance Hunter, PhD

The threat of cyber attacks is a reality for every industry. Cybersecurity is top of mind after recent highly skilled and calculated attacks targeting the Colonial Pipeline in May and shutting down the world’s largest meat supplier earlier this month.


With America’s energy and food supply chains making vulnerable targets, everyone from executives, lawmakers, security officials and the media are looking for answers.


Augusta University’s Dr. Craig Albert and Dr. Lance Hunter explore the questions surrounding cybersecurity in a recently published study in The Cyber Defense Review. This project examines the political, economic and military factors associated with cyber attacks in an effort to understand which countries or groups are most likely to attack.



Here’s an abstract of their piece:


Factors that Motivate State-Sponsored Cyberattacks

The study of the factors involved in the initiation of violent interstate conflicts has been well documented within international relations. However, scholars have yet to analyze the factors associated with the initiation of international state-sponsored cyberattacks due to the lack of available data. This study is a first attempt to address this limitation. This project examines the political, economic, and military factors associated with the initiation of state-sponsored cyberattacks from 2005–2012, using a unique dataset that incorporates author-collected political, economic, and military data, along with cyber data on known state-sponsored cyberattacks extracted from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Cyber Operations Tracker Dataset. With this unique dataset, we seek to better understand those states most likely to cyberattack other states. The Cyber Defense Review, Spring 2021



The study was also referenced in Voice of America in a piece covering President Biden’s trip to the G-7 Summit in Britain.



If you are a journalist looking to cover any aspect of cybersecurity and cyber attacks, Augusta University’s experts are world-renowned on the topic.


Dr. Craig Albert is director of the Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies at Augusta University. He is a leading expert on war, terrorism and American politics, and he testified before U.S. Congress regarding the threat from Chechnya following the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.


Dr. Lance Hunter is an assistant professor of political science with a background in international relations. His research focuses on how terrorist attacks influence politics in democratic countries and how political decisions within countries affect conflicts worldwide.


Both experts are available to speak with media about cyber attacks. Simply click on either expert’s icon to arrange an interview today.


Connect with:
Craig Albert, PhD

Craig Albert, PhD

Graduate Director, PhD in Intelligence, Defense, and Cybersecurity Policy and Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies

Dr. Craig Albert focuses on propaganda, information warfare, national security studies, cyberconflict, and political thought.

Political PhilosophyEthnic ConflictInfluence OperationsCybersecurity Policy & StrategyInternational Security Studies
Lance Hunter, PhD

Lance Hunter, PhD

Professor of Political Science

Dr. Lance Hunter studies the connection between terrorism and political stability in democracies.

PoliticsTerrorismInternational RelationsVotingCivil Liberties
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