Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
How International Law Applies to Cyberwarfare
September 6, 2012
One day, there may be an app for that, but for the present we have the "Tallin Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare" published online and soon to be available as an e-book and a print book published by Cambridge University Press.
Huge thanks to our generous friend Ben Kerschberg for sending along the news report.
The manual comes from experts working with the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE), an institute based in Tallinn, Estonia that assists NATO with technical and legal issues associated with cyberwarfare-related issues.
It's not a quick read and I haven't read it yet myself. At 215 pages, that is daunting as we prepare our next CLE road trip. The study isn't black letter law by any means. No one agrees on what cyberwarfare is much less on what a country can do in response to something that hasn't been defined.
Does existing law even apply to cyberwarfare? The experts are divided. How do we REALLY know where an attack came from. It's complicated.
The Tallinn Manual was written by a group of experts from nations including Australia, Canada, the U.S., the Netherlands and the U.K. The manual is not NATO's official doctrine but a compilation of views. Any kind of starting point is probably helpful. My bet is that technology will outrun the law – as usual.
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