Pukhraj Singh

Cyber geopolitics, cyber geostrategy and information statecraft

Since a decade, I have carried the alter ego of a cyber geostrategist (for the lack of a better term). I am a cyber threat detection engineer with two decades of experience. I run a cyber security operations centre in the day and transform into a geopolitical wonk at night.

After the 26/11 terror attacks of 2008, I became the first lateral entrant to be inducted from the private sector into the Indian signals intelligence agency NTRO under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was then that I realised the role which cyber operations are going to play in shaping the world order.

I immediately felt the need to start working on a new taxonomy and ontology for international relations. Projects like the Explorations in Cyber International Relations at MIT-Harvard had just started delving into the subject matter at that time.

Since then, I have mostly been an autodidact when it comes to gaining an interdisciplinary knowledge of cyber policy. My byline made its way to all the national Indian broadsheets like the Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Tribune, Deccan Herald, Outlook, The Print and many others. I trained senior Indian military commanders, participated in Track II dialogues on cyber policy, and also advised the Indian government on its draft cyber doctrine.

In 2021, I, my partner and our son moved to Brisbane, Australia, under the Distinguished Talent program — to be in the peripheral vision of the Five Eyes. I have made steady inroads into the national cyber discourse of Australia. I have been published by the Australian Defence College, Australian Strategic Policy Institute and US Military Academy. I have shaped and participated in national and sectoral cyber exercises, and intelligence sharing and crisis management initiatives.

To be formally recognised in the Western strategic affairs community and bolster my interdisciplinary knowledge, I also signed up for a master’s degree in cyber geostrategy at UNSW Canberra, at the Australian Defence Force Academy. It is finishing in November 2023. I am now formally trained in cyber threat intelligence, detection engineering, Australian defence policy, national security strategy, information operations and strategic communication.

My previous work experience in cybersecurity spans a host of global technology companies based in Canada, India, Malaysia and Israel. I have also founded the Centre for Epistemic Security, an Australian think tank undertaking doctrinal and strategic research on informational, cognitive, grey-zone and hybrid threats targeting liberal democracies.

In my past life, I was known as the founder of Abroo, a now-defunct socio-political initiative for the empowerment of the Dalits and marginalised of the Indian Punjab. I have anointed myself as an amateur poet and aficionado of Punjabi Sufi music.

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