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The Strategic Use Of Ransomware Operations As A Method Of Warfare, Jeffrey Biller
The Strategic Use Of Ransomware Operations As A Method Of Warfare, Jeffrey Biller
International Law Studies
This article examines the potential use and legal limitations of ransomware to achieve strategic effects in armed conflicts. Ransomware is defined here as the temporary encryption of data until some pre-condition is met to release the encryption. The article focuses on international law as applicable to a State’s use of ransomware against another State, where both are parties to an existing international armed conflict. The author finds that international humanitarian law does not currently prohibit most uses of ransomware against non-military related targets in armed conflicts. While the encryption of data may be a legal violation when it inhibits the …
Drawing The Cyber Baseline: The Applicability Of Existing International Law To The Governance Of Information And Communication Technologies, Dapo Akande, Antonio Coco, Talita De Souza Dias
Drawing The Cyber Baseline: The Applicability Of Existing International Law To The Governance Of Information And Communication Technologies, Dapo Akande, Antonio Coco, Talita De Souza Dias
International Law Studies
"Cyberspace" is often treated as a new domain of State activity in international legal discourse. This has led to the assumption that for international law to apply to cyber operations carried out by States or non-State actors, "cyber-specific" State practice and opinio juris must be demonstrated. This article challenges that assumption on five different bases. First, it argues that rules of general international law are generally applicable to all domains, areas, or types of State activity. In their interpretation and application to purported new domains, limitations to their scope of application cannot be presumed. Second, this article demonstrates that the …
In Defense Of Pure Sovereignty In Cyberspace, Kevin Jon Heller
In Defense Of Pure Sovereignty In Cyberspace, Kevin Jon Heller
International Law Studies
States currently endorse three different positions concerning the international wrongfulness of cyber operations that penetrate computer systems located on the territory of another state but do not rise to the level of a use of force or prohibited intervention. The first position is that such low-intensity cyber operations are never wrongful, because sovereignty is a principle of international law, not a primary rule that can be independently violated. The second is that low-intensity cyber operations are always wrongful, because sovereignty is a primary rule of international law that is violated by any non-consensual penetration of a computer system located on …