Cyberconflict: Threats, Responses and the Role of Law

Today (April 12) St. John’s Law School of Law is hosting a conference in New York  in cooperation with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation group entitled Cyberconflict: Threats, Responses and the Rule of Law. The conference brings together experts from the armed forces, academia, and law enforcement to consider issues at the intersection of technology, law enforcement, national security, civil liberties and international law. In an environment where individual, independent hackers can do the same damage as a government-sponsored cyberattack, how can states craft legal tools, military strategies, and intelligence operations that address national security concerns and differentiate between cyberwarriors and amateur hackers acting on their own?

The opening panel, moderated by Peggy McGuinness is “Cyberwar, Jus ad Bellum, Jus in Bello and Views from a NATO Perspective.” Panelists David Fidler (Indiana University Maurer School of Law), Richard Pregent (Legal Advisor for NATO Allied Command Counterintelligence), and Alex Vandurme (NATO Computer Incident Response Capability) will consider  public international law, domestic law, and how it effects NATO strategy regarding cyberwar.

I will moderate the panel on “Public International Law, National Security Law and Cyberconflicts.” Geoffrey Corn (South Texas College of Law), Sean Watts (Creighton University School of Law), and Richard Jackson (Special Assistant to the US Army Judge Advocate General for Law of War Matters)  will consider questions such as whether cyberwarfare can conform to the International Humanitarian Law principles of humanity, proportionality, distinction, and military necessity,  whether the U.S. should pursue a cyberwar treaty, and whether the President order extended cyberattacks without Congressional authorization?

Finally, Jeff Walker (St. John’s) will moderate the session on “Constitutional Issues in Addressing CyberWar/CyberEspionage/CyberCrime.”  Susan Brenner (University of Dayton School of Law), Amy Harman Burkart (Cybercrime Unit, U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts), and Christopher Soghoian (The American Civil Liberties Union) will address questions such as what legal framework applies when states defend against, investigate, and prosecute non-state-actors who engage in cyber-espionage or computer-based crime and how do we differentiate between cybercrime and cyber war?

I will post on the substantive issues in the coming days. The St. John’s Journal of International and Comparative Law will also have a symposium issue in the fall devoted to the conference papers.