Small and Unthreatening: The Case for Increased Cyber Operations
Published: 8/17/2026
Digital Only
In Small and Unthreatening: The Case for Increased
Offensive Cyber Operations, Tom Johansmeyer, PhD dismantles the fear of
uncontrollable cyber collateral damage through an empirical analysis of Yaha,
WannaCry, and NotPetya. Demonstrating that the financial fallout from these
major incidents was far more limited and reversible than traditionally feared,
Johansmeyer argues that offensive cyber tools offer a precise, de-escalatory
alternative to kinetic forceāand calls on military leaders to embrace these
capabilities for modern statecraft.