Cyber Warfare
55 Articles
Psy-Ops, Meet Cyber-Ops: U.S. Takes on Russian Trolls
A Russian troll sits down at his desktop and logs into one of the social media accounts he uses to impersonate and radicalize Americans. Suddenly, a direct message appears: “Hello,…
Planning for ‘Cyber Fallout’ After the Iranian Nuclear Deal
Keep your cyber tools close, your history books closer. For some, the signing of the July 2015 Iran nuclear deal might appear as a “watershed moment” for abating the…
17 Years Later: Applying Post-9/11 Lessons to Potential Cyber Attacks
Seventeen years ago today, Americans learned all too tragically that, as the 9/11 Commission later put it, “the system was blinking red” for a reason. Our country, we came…
All Hands on Deck: Cyber Attacks Against Private Companies and International Law
Last Wednesday, reports surfaced that the U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing had been hit by a serious ransomware attack. A leaked internal memo suggested that some production equipment…
Cyber Operations and the U.S. Definition of “Armed Attack”
[Ed. Note: Based on Goodman's remarks at U.S. Cyber Command’s Annual Legal Conference.]
A widely accepted view of the UN Charter is that a State can use force…
A widely accepted view of the UN Charter is that a State can use force…
Outlook on International Cyber Norms: Three Avenues for Future Progress
“It’s high time to have a serious discussion about the international legal framework in which cyberwars take place,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said during his…
A Checklist for Protecting Our Elections from Foreign Meddling
Vice President and General Counsel for Facebook Colin Stretch, General Counsel for Twitter Sean Edgett, and Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Google Kent Walker at…
Cyber, Sovereignty, and North Korea–And the Risk of Inaction
Americans, and people throughout the world, are becoming increasingly aware that there are significant vulnerabilities in the Internet, and that there are malicious actors who…
Protecting Financial Data in Cyberspace: Precedent for Further Progress on Cyber Norms?
Identifying the legal norms that apply in cyberspace remains highly challenging. The recent collapse of the 5th UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Developments in the Field…
International Cyber Law Politicized: The UN GGE’s Failure to Advance Cyber Norms
On June 23, after years of slow yet meaningful progress in developing State consensus regarding the application of international law norms to cyberspace, the UN Group of Governmental…
Why a Broad Definition of “Violence” in Cyber Conflict is Unwise and Legally Unsound
International Humanitarian Law (IHL, aka the Law of Armed Conflict) is not intended to outlaw conflict. It is meant to regulate conflict in order to reduce its impact on civilians…
Violence in Cyberspace: Are Disruptive Cyberspace Operations Legal under International Humanitarian Law?
It is already widely acknowledged that cyberspace has become the fifth domain of warfare, and militaries around the world are training various cyber units, who will be supporting…