Cybernetics and Surveillance: The Secret Police Enter the Computer Age

Abstract

In late 2020, newspapers across America published worrying reports about ongoing Russian attacks on the United States.1 The narrative was confusing. No soldier fired a gun. No missile was launched. No spy was dragged away in handcuffs. Some of the forces involved did not even bear national markings. Instead, American citizens were informed that “Cozy Bear” slipped around the defenses of Solar Winds and compromised FireEye. Most of the relevant details were closely guarded national security secrets, but even the publicly available details were too complex for most to understand. Nevertheless, reporters and government officials had a language with which to communicate these events to readers. This was hacking, or a cyberattack, or a “violation of cybersecurity,” or an instance of “information warfare.”2 The notion of cyberthreats