Photo by Emma Quirk '26. Author Keir Giles visited Mount Holyoke College on Jan. 27. and discussed his new book "Russia's War on Everybody and What it Means for You."
By Emma Quirk ’26 and Nina Sydoryk ’25
Staff Writers
Anyone can be a victim of a cyber attack. From targeted international students in November to Visiting Professor in International Relations Cyrus Vance and practicing diplomat Natalie Sabanadze, Mount Holyoke’s own community has lost information and money to scammers. On Friday, Jan. 27, students and faculty gathered in the Stimson Room to listen to author Keir Giles talk with Sabanadze about his new book, “Russia’s War on Everybody and What it Means for You.”
In a post-event interview with Sabanadze, Mount Holyoke News inquired further as to her motivations behind organizing the conversation.“Well, as it often happens in these situations, I just heard that he was in the States promoting this book … that was very short notice, but we made it happen,” Sabanadze responded.
Speaking on the structure of the event, the International Relations professor and former Georgian ambassador to the EU said the event itself “was not going to be an academic focus” and that she believes “it’s very important to bring outsiders to college beyond faculty, even if it is our academic outsiders too, so that people are exposed to different styles, different ideas [and so] there is a discussion.”
The talk itself was begun by Giles discussing how he had emailed Sabanadze, and it bounced back to him from a Russian domain. Sabanadze had been using an app on her phone that was owned and operated by a Russian company, which was also reading her emails.
“Who does your email contact list? Who does your list of passwords open up access to and who has that benefit for your organization?” Giles asked during the talk. He explained that while “nobody’s going to become a cybersecurity expert overnight,” everyone can work to become more aware of their media presence, and who is able to see their online activity.
There are different levels of harm that Russia can inflict depending on the proximity. A person in Ukraine can be directly impacted by a Russian missile, while in the United States, the tax rates may be higher due to cyber attacks on governmental systems. For a regular citizen, there is only so much you can do. Giles explained, “there was no reason for Natalie to suspect that an app, which is being served up apparently in good faith by Apple’s App Store” was being used by Russia.
Throughout the conversation, Giles emphasized that “nobody is too insignificant or unimportant, no matter how far away they may be, because Russia seeks to deliver effects through everything.”
“Russia is proceeding with the assumption that it is entitled to [Ukraine],” Giles said. “Ukraine is treated as being core to Russian identity and part of the premise of the invasion was that Ukrainians were no more than frustrated, slightly inferior Russians to have to be delivered.”
This understanding of how Russia views itself was surprising to listeners in the audience. “I found it really interesting how Russia is still living in a Soviet Union-age mindset. They want to return to when they were at their prime, even if logically we cannot go back to that period of time,” Kaari Harsila ’26, who attended the event, said.
Giles also rebuked the “argument that you can’t possibly defeat Russia because it will lead to nuclear war.” He claims such a preconception “is the result of one of the most spectacularly successful Russian information operations that we have seen playing out over the last 10 to 12 years.”
These campaigns work best in areas that seem far out of reach of Russia’s borders, such as France and Germany, Giles noted.
But, not all are inclined to agree with his assessment of the situation. Economics Professor Eva Paus stated she was “surprised by his insistence that Russia would not resort to nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine,” she herself being more skeptical and worried about what Putin might resort to if and when he finds himself with his back against the wall in Ukraine.
Overall, Giles believes that awareness must be raised from a governmental level, and there must also be “the willingness to actually do something about it.”
“There are going to be different steps that even democratic open societies can do to try to insulate themselves against this. And one of the first steps that we’ve been most effective across the board across all countries is just raising public programs … It means that all of the sectors of civil society that might not recognize that they are under attack, suddenly are able to start to take measures to protect themselves” Giles stated.
Sabanadze spoke further on her experience with cybersecurity and the awareness issue brought up by Giles during her interview with Mount Holyoke News. According to Sabandze, this was relevant to all students and not just those directly interested in foreign policy “[Cybersecurity] is important for everybody … greater awareness is actually the best protection from it. [It] doesn’t have to do [with] politics, because it’s going to affect everyone. Everyone has email, right? Everyone has a phone.”
Further discussing the role and possible responsibilities academic institutions have in increasing this awareness and educating people on various risks, Sabandaze admitted that “the awareness is not going to grow by one talk … so either at school or colleges, there should be more emphasis on teaching people how to [mitigate cybersecurity risks].”
“And these [risks] are not only political, they’re also social, right? These are the types of social pressures that, for example, can be under or manipulated, hacked. I don’t know what needs to happen. So I think this is where we’re a bit behind,” Sabanadze said.
Finally, Sabanadze stated that she is “thinking of organizing something else as well” for anyone curious about the status of similar events to be held at Mount Holyoke College in the future.