International and Foreign Cyberspace Law Research Guide

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the international law applicable to cyber operations, including a systematic examination of attribution, lawfulness and remedies. It demonstrates the importance of countermeasures as a form of remedies and also shows the limits of international law, highlighting its limits in resolving issues related to cyber operations.

The author examines traditional international law concepts, such as the “use of force,” “armed attack,” and “armed conflict,” and asks whether they can be applied to new digital technologies. He considers whether a cyber operation amounts to the use of force and, if so, whether the victim state can exercise its right of self-defense; whether cyber operations trigger the application of international humanitarian law; what rules must be followed in the conduct of cyber hostilities; how neutrality is affected by cyber operations; and whether those conducting cyber operations are combatants, civilians, or civilians taking direct part in hostilities.

This book identifies the rules and limits of cross-border computer network operations for which states bear responsibility during both peacetime and wartime. It illustrates the applicability of current international law by incorporating references to relevant treaties and customary law. It also includes case studies of cyber attacks for which there is strong circumstantial evidence of state involvement. The author concludes by arguing that states should be obligated to prevent malicious operations emanating from networks within their respective jurisdictions.

The author examines the development of constraining norms for cyber warfare and speculates on how these norms may evolve in the future, drawing upon cases studies involving earlier emerging technologies, such as chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, as well as the use of strategic bombing. In do so, he expands upon prior understandings of norm-evolution theory, offering recommendations for policymakers as they grapple with threats of cyber warfare and cyber terrorism.

The author examines whether the law governing the use of force is able to deal with the kind of legal disputes likely to arise from modern warfare. Key questions include how one defines an armed attack, whether the destruction of a state’s vital digital ecosystem or the “blinding” of military communication satellites constitutes a threat, and how one delimits the threshold that would justify invoking the right of self-defense or retaliatory action. The author concludes that as technology has leapt ahead, the legal framework has failed to adapt, leaving states unable to effectively defend themselves in compliance with international law.

This volume, edited by Jack Goldsmith and featuring a cast of leading scholars in the field, provides an authoritative overview of the origins and operation of Defend Forward, and a comprehensive assessment of its legality.

This collection of essays examines both the nature of cyberterrorism, including how it differs from other cyber treats, and the most effective tools for countering it, featuring contributions from experts in the fields of law, engineering, computer science, international relations, and public policy.

This updated edition of a well-known comprehensive analysis of the criminalization of cyberattacks adds important new guidance to the legal framework on cybercrime, reflecting new legislation, technological developments, and the changing nature of cybercrime itself. The focus is not only on criminal law aspects but also on issues of data protection, jurisdiction, electronic evidence, enforcement, and digital forensics. It provides a thorough analysis of the legal regulation of attacks against information systems in the European, international, and comparative law contexts.

This collection of essays highlights technological advancements in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance that can be used to combat both cyber crime and cyber terrorism. Topics covered include digital intelligence, the use of alternative content, and the application of mathematical modeling.

The contributors to this volume of essays draw upon insights from the fields law, social psychology, and computer science to examine: 1) how and why terrorists engage with digital technologies; 2) what threat their activities pose, and to whom; and 3) how might their activities be prevented or deterred.

This book examines the risks to freedom of expression, particularly in relation to the internet, as a result of regulation introduced in response to terrorist threats. The work explores the challenges of maintaining security in the fight against traditional terrorism while protecting fundamental freedoms, particularly online freedom of expression. The topics discussed include the clash between freedom of speech and national security; the multijurisdictional nature of the internet and the implications for national sovereignty and transnational legal structures; how to determine legitimate and illegitimate association online; and the implications for privacy and data protection.