• Tweeter

  • republish

The cyber fighters of the staff of the armies are described with much self-deprecation by the writers. Editions Rue de Sèvres

Cyber ​​war is in the spotlight in the amazing Cyberfatale comics. In the scenario, an anonymous collective that includes an active officer, lifts some of the veil that covers this particularly discreet specialty.

" The cyber is a war zone, a thick fog where friends and enemies do not recognize each other. [...] We are corsairs, cyber corsairs. Admiral Duperré, who makes this description of the cyberwar specialists of the French army in the first album of Cyberfatale , does not exist. And yet, it looks like two drops of water to the real boss of the cyber-military , Rear-Admiral Arnaud Coustillière. The character of the comic is indeed the look-alike of his life-size model.

Cyberfatale is a fiction that tells a series of hacks aimed at the highest French authorities. A photo of the President of the Republic in slip kangaroo is found online, while a Rafale fighter jet is grounded following a piracy of its systems on board. Who is behind this operation affecting France? Maybe not those we believe. Throughout the story, soldiers, journalists and more real-life politicians lead the investigation to identify the real aggressors.

Behind the fiction, the real

For the neophyte, this album is a beautiful introduction to the issues of cyberwar. For the more informed reader, one is surprised to try to recognize, according to the pages, what is true and what is a little less. The editor-in-chief of the journalist, for example, is physically inspired by Rémy Ourdan, war reporter of the newspaper Le Monde . The boss of the NSA, the US electronic intelligence service, called "Mickael Federer", is inspired by Michael Rogers , who has held these positions in reality.

In Cyberfatale , the characters evoke various affairs that have really made the news in recent years. About the hacking of TV5 Monde , initially attributed to jihadists, they accuse APT28, a group of hackers considered close to the GU (former GRU), the Russian military intelligence. An attack that would also have affected submarines and weapon systems of the French armies. A few pages earlier, the admiral mentions infiltrations of jihadist social networks. Around him, his men are not in uniform: with their jeans and their T-shirts, they look like the most innocent geeks .

And in reality ? Accessed remotely, by SMS, the soldier who participated in the writing answers. French cyber-fighters have a good tendency to swap the uniform for more comfortable and casual civilian outfits. Piracy by the Russians has impacted naval vessels. False profiles have been used to infiltrate jihadist networks to neutralize their propaganda and recruitment efforts. This last subject remains sensitive: " We go soft on com ", dodges the officer quickly.

Mysterious writers

The designer of Cyberfatale , Clément Oubrerie , has already proven itself with some pretty successes like Aya de Yopougon or Pablo . In the scenario, it is a mysterious collective who wrote the story under the malicious pseudonym of "Cépanou". Behind, three people: a French army officer who is still active in cyber operations, a comic writer and a documentary filmmaker who worked on these computer warfare themes.

At the origin of the project is the meeting between these different personalities and the willingness of the soldier to tell an exceptional daily life, covered by the greatest secrecy. Did the officer ask permission to publish this comic book? " If we asked permission, we could not do anything ," justifies RFI one of his associates. Six-handed writing balances the desires and fears of authors.

The cover of the first installment of Cyberfatale, signed Clément Oubrerie and "Cépanou" Editions Rue de Sèvres

Finally, the project is quickly rumored in the corridors of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. At the operational level, it is fun to recognize habits and colleagues in what is globally perceived as a nice and spicy tribute to an unknown specialty. Audacity, however, would have, according to the authors, creaked a few teeth in the cabinet of the Minister of Armies.

"A lot of people laughed about it in the institution ," sums up the co-author we met. We did not reveal any big secrets. If the people in the army and the staff are a little smart, they will recover. Meanwhile, the three friends of "Cépanou" and their draftsman are already going to dream of a second album to follow.

► You can browse an excerpt from Cyberfatale on the publisher's website by clicking here.