Abstract
This paper reviews international technical, legal, strategy, and policy initiatives aimed at providing a legal infrastructure for what transpires over the cyberspace. It provides readers with the understanding required to handle delicate legal and definitional issues, and concludes by examining the role of the international humanitarian law and other UN conventions in further developing international regulatory framework, standards, and norms.
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Notes
Maitra’s Internet Solutions for Project Managers, Ibid 3 (Maitra 2000) Chapter 6.
Cerf. Vint. Re-evaluating mission, performance and outcomes, interview article published in Glenn (2010), p. 22.
Botnets are collections of computers injected with malicious code that can be controlled remotely through a command and control infrastructure. A bot is an individual computer infected with malicious code that participates in a botnet and carries out the commands of the botnet controller.
Cyber Terrorist Group ‘Anonymous’ Sends Warning to Banks, Corporations, Power Elite and NATO (2011).
Ibid.
Tiku (2010a).
Tiku (2010b).
Ibid 9.
Defending the Nation from Cyber Attack (Business Executives for National Security) (2012).
Cyber Defence Forum (2012).
Advanced persistent threats: how they work. Symantec. http://www.symantec.com/theme.jsp?themeid=apt-infographic-1.
Hathaway (2009).
Nakashima (2014).
Convention on Cybercrime CETS No: 185. Council of Europe. http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=185&CM=&CL=ENG.
Emm (2009).
A DoS attack floods a server with huge quantities of emails or server requests and the server ultimately collapses. A more advanced DoS attack is known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). Under DDoS attacks, more than one computer is used to send the data or requests to the server. The same laws are applicable for both DoS and DDoS attacks.
UK and Sweden Enact Laws Against Cyber Crimes—Hackers Given A Message: DoS is a Crime. SECURE64. http://www.secure64.com/news-uk-sweden-laws-cyber-crimes.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, and Right to Privacy (2014).
Mele (2012).
Ibid.
Mele et al. (2013).
Sanger (2012).
Ibid.
Ibid, supra note 1, at A1.
Ibid.
Fidler (2011).
Clarke (2010).
Paganini (2012).
Falliere et al. (2011).
As referenced in ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Paganini (2014b).
Cyberattacks Jam Government and Commercial Web Sites in USA and South Korea (2009). As referenced in Malawer, Ibid.
Perlroth and Hardy (2013).
Ibid.
Ibid.
Paganini, ibid. 37.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Kelly (2012).
“Beyond a cyber command, the Pentagon is grappling with a dizzying array of policy and doctrinal questions involving cyber warfare.” “Questions Stall Pentagon Computer Defenses.” Washington Post, 2010. Also, see Technology, policy, law, and ethics regarding U.S. acquisition and use of cyberattack capabilities (National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council, 2009). http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12651&page=R1. Ibid.
Securing cyberspace for the 44th presidency—a report of the center for strategic and international studies commission on cybersecurity for the 44th presidency (Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 2008). http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/081208_securingcyberspace_44.pdf. Ibid.
Kelly, Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Estonia has risen to become a thought leader in cyber-domain after sustaining a serious attack across its government sites in 2007.
Mele, Ibid.
Ibid.
Cyber War: War in the Fifth Domain (2010).
Lynn III (2010).
Military Command is Created for Cyber Security (2009).
Paganini, Ibid.
Palace Calls for End to Cyber-Attacks Over Panatag Shoal Row (2012).
Ibid.
Cyber War: War in the Fifth Domain, Ibid.
Herzon, Ibid.
The Tallinan Manual (forthcoming, © Cambridge University Press 2013), pending formal publication, its citation is The Rule.
White House (2011).
White House (2009).
U.K. Cabinet Office (2009).
National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council (2009).
Center for Strategic and International Studies (2008).
Mele, Ibid.
Cyber War: War in the Fifth Domain, Ibid.
The Rule. Ibid.
Lele and Samuel (2012).
The Tallinn Manual, © Cambridge University Press 2013.
Mele (2012).
Ibid.
Samuel (2012).
Ibid. Lele and Samuel (2012).
Cyber War: War in the Fifth Domain, Ibid.
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Acknowledgments
This report is dedicated to those in government, business, academic, and non-profit communities who protect our sensitive information/data against cyber-attacks and to all of our citizens who ensure the safety and integrity of corporate and institutional databases and through that, the strength of our nation. As the principal author, I have drawn on the work of my peers and colleagues, but there are several to whom I am particularly indebted for their insight on how best to formulate and effectively use key International Law Principles in the new cyberdomain. They are Nitasha Tiku, Melissa Hathaway, Stefano Mele, Pierluigi Paganini, LTC Jan Stinissen, and Suzanne Kelly. I am grateful to Springer Journals Production Editor Noorjahan Ram and her support team who worked with me on the references and footnotes. The most important acknowledgement comes last. My wife, Julie Binder Maitra, has aided me beyond measure. She is my most demanding critic for consistency and traceability of the key points offered in the entire manuscript. She has to be admired and recognized for reading the manuscript several times and for her continued editorial assistance. Revisions and later drafts were largely mine; hence I must assume full responsibility for all erroneous statements and other shortcomings.
Disclaimer
The work on this paper represents the author’s own research and observations and does not reflect any US government agency position vis-à-vis international cyber-law, strategy, and policy.
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Maitra, A.K. Offensive cyber-weapons: technical, legal, and strategic aspects. Environ Syst Decis 35, 169–182 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-014-9520-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-014-9520-7