The new cyberwarfare

In the heady chaos of 1990s Moscow, where criminals strolled corridors of power and fortunes were made overnight, few could have predicted how dramatically the game would change.

This week, Georgina Godwin sits down with Charles Hecker, a veteran observer who spent four decades navigating Russia's complexities as a journalist and partner at Control Risks. His new book, Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, was described by the Financial Times as a “fascinating exploration” that shows many lessons are yet to be learnt.

Tune in for a conversation that reveals how Putin's Russia evolved from lawless opportunism to calculated state control, where oligarchs could prosper only within carefully drawn lines. More crucially, it explores how traditional espionage—those briefcase drops in Washington parks—has given way to something far more insidious: cyber warfare that operates across commercial, criminal and state sectors simultaneously.