• Director

Trey Herr

Dr. Trey Herr is Senior Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, part of the Atlantic Council Technology Programs and assistant professor of Global Security and Policy at American University’s School of International Service. The CSI team works at the intersection of cybersecurity and geopolitics across conflict, cloud computing, supply chain policy, and more. Previously, Trey was a senior security strategist with Microsoft handling cybersecurity policy as well as a fellow with the Belfer Cybersecurity Project at Harvard Kennedy School and a non-resident fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He holds a PhD in Political Science and BS in Musical Theatre and Political Science.

September 2021

Cyber defense across the ocean floor: The geopolitics of submarine cable security

by Justin Sherman

The vast majority of intercontinental global Internet traffic—upwards of 95 percent—travels over undersea cables that run across the ocean floor. The construction of new submarine cables is a key part of the constantly changing physical topology of the Internet worldwide. However, this dependence is not matched by increased security, leaving our undersea cables—the core of the global internet—at risk.
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August 2021

Countering ransomware: Lessons from aircraft hijacking

by Simon Handler, Emma Schroeder, Frances Schroeder, and Trey Herr

Ransomware has plagued organizations for more than a decade, but the last three years have experienced a surge in both the number of incidents and the ransoms demanded. To more effectively counter ransomware, the US government should develop a strategy that draws on lessons learned from addressing a surge in aircraft hijackings through the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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