Max Smeets

Dr. Max Smeets is a leading expert in the field of cyber conflict, cyber risk, and ransomware. His upcoming book, Ransom War: How Cyber Crime Became a Threat to National Security, examines the escalating threat of ransomware. He is the author of No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber Force (Oxford University Press & Hurst, 2022), co-editor of Deter, Disrupt or Deceive? Assessing Cyber Conflict as an Intelligence Contest (Georgetown University Press, 2023), and Cyberspace and Instability (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). He has held academic and fellowship positions at ETH Zurich Center for Security Studies, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Stanford University CISAC, University of Oxford (Keble College), New America, Columbia University SIPA, Sciences Po CERI, and NATO CCD COE. He is Co-director of Virtual Routes and is Managing Editor of Binding Hook.