08 Oct Cyberwar in the LA Times
Today’s LA Times has an op-ed I wrote arguing that states need to tailor the law of war and the prohibition on the use of force to cyberspace. This is a shorter version of a piece I posted on SSRN a few months ago (more details here). I’m still working on a longer, law-review length treatment now so comments would be welcome.
Meanwhile, evidence continues to mount, suggesting that cyberwar and information operations are moving back to the front burner for states and their militaries. President Bush acknowledged as much during the recent round of accusations that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army had hacked into an unclassified DOD computer network. As I mention in the op-ed, moreover, the United States’ capacity to use cyberattacks to destroy infrastructure is now a matter of public record. Moreover, last week accusations emerged that Israel had hacked Syria’s air defenses in order to launch a targeted bombing run against targets in Syrian territory. Ten years ago, cyberwar was the stuff of theory. Today, it sure looks to be part of the new reality.
I think the author of the article quoted below pulls out what is probably the key problem. Under current law, you have to know who and where. But in cyber operations, the one thing you almost never know, at least quickly enough to do anything about it that matters, is who and where. That’s where you should focus. There and on the implications for civil liberties and privacy implicated in a change of approach. How do we get the balance right? See Harvard Journal of Law &Technology, Volume 20, Number 2 Spring 2007 GETTING IT RIGHT: PROTECTING AMERICAN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN CYBERSPACE Sean M. Condron (Judge Advocate, U.S. Army. Presently assigned as an Associate Professor, International and Operational Law Department, The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, Charlottesville, Virginia.) “The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army.” “Attribution and characterization are especially important in the context of cyber warfare. A state must attribute an attack for two reasons. First, attribution helps to ensure that a state does not target an innocent person or place. Second, a state must attribute… Read more »