Dr. Max Smeets
IFW A 45.2
Haldeneggsteig 4
8092 Zürich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 632 83 45
Mail: max.smeets@sipo.gess.ethz.ch
Max Smeets is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich and Co-Director of Virtual Routes. He is the author of ‘Ransom War: How Cyber Crime became a Threat to National Security (Oxford University Press & Hurst Publishers, 2025) and 'No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber- Force’ (Oxford University Press & Hurst Publishers, 2022). He is also the 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).
Max is an affiliate at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and an associate fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Additionally, he serves as the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Binding Hook, a media outlet on technology and security part of Virtual Routes.
He was previously a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at Stanford University CISAC and a College Lecturer at Keble College, University of Oxford. He has also held research and fellowship positions at New America, Columbia University SIPA, Sciences Po CERI, and NATO CCD COE. Before his academic career, Max worked in finance in London and Amsterdam.
Max received a BA in Economics, Politics and Statistics from University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University and an MPhil (Brasenose College) and DPhil (St. John’s College) in International Relations from the University of Oxford.
Selected Publications
Books
Max Smeets, Ransom War: How Cyber Crime became a Threat to National Security”, Oxford University Press, 2025, external page Ransom War: How Cyber Crime Became a Threat to National Security : Smeets, Max: Amazon.de: Books
Chesney, Robert; Shires, James; Smeets, Max (eds.) (2023) 'Cyberspace and Instability', Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Chesney, Robert; Smeets, Max (eds.) (2023) 'Deter, Disrupt or Deceive? Assessing Cyber Conflict as an Intelligence Contest', Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Journal Articles
external page Smeets, Max (2018) 'A Matter of Time: On the Transitory Nature of Cyber Weapons', Journal of Strategic Studies 41, 1-2: 6-32. *Awarded the 2018 Amos Perlmutter Prize
Book Chapters
Brantly, Aaron; Smeets, Max, (2020), Military Operations in Cyberspace, Handbook of Military Sciences, Springer, external page Handbook of Military Sciences | SpringerLink
Bunk, Joost; Smeets, Max, (2021), Dutch Cyber Security Strategy, Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy, Routledge, external page Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy - 1st Edition –
Soesanto, Stefan; Smeets, Max (2020), Cyber Deterrence: The Past, Present, and Future, NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2020, external page Cyber Deterrence: The Past, Present, and Future | SpringerLink
Op-eds
external page Smeets, Max, (2023) ‘The magic of sophisticated cyber attacks,’ Binding Hook.
external page Shires, James; Smeets, Max, (2023) 'Introducing Binding Hook', Binding Hook.
external page Smeets, Max (2019) 'Cyber Command’s Strategy Risks Friction With Allies', Lawfare.
external page Smeets, Max (2019) 'There are too many Red Lines in Cyberspace', Lawfare.
Reports and Conference Articles
Smeets, Max (2022) ‘What it Takes to Develop a Military Cyber-Force', CSS Policy Perspectives 10, 7.