National Security Law Commons^™

The Right To Privacy And Data Protection In Times Of Armed Conflict, Asaf Lubin, Russell Buchan

Books & Book Chapters by Maurer Faculty

Contemporary warfare yields a profound impact on the rights to privacy and data protection. Technological advances in the fields of electronic surveillance, predictive algorithms, big data analytics, user-generated evidence, artificial intelligence, cloud storage, facial recognition, and cryptography are redefining the scope, nature, and contours of military operations. Yet, international humanitarian law offers very few, if any, lex specialis rules for the lawful processing, analysis, dissemination, and retention of personal information. This edited anthology offers a pioneering account of the current and potential future application of digital rights in armed conflict.

In Part I Mary Ellen O’Connell, Tal Mimran and Yuval …

A Lightweight Reliably Quantified Deepfake Detection Approach, Tianyi Wang, Kam Pui Chow

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Deepfake has brought huge threats to society such that everyone can become a potential victim. Current Deepfake detection approaches have unsatisfactory performance in either accuracy or efficiency. Meanwhile, most models are only evaluated on different benchmark test datasets with different accuracies, which could not imitate the real-life Deepfake unknown population. As Deepfake cases have already been raised and brought challenges at the court, it is disappointed that no existing work has studied the model reliability and attempted to make the detection model act as the evidence at the court. We propose a lightweight Deepfake detection deep learning approach using the …

Tiktok, Wechat, And National Security: Toward A U.S. Data Privacy Framework, Robert L. Rembert

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Reasonable Intelligence Agency, Asaf Lubin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Article 57(2) of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions requires parties to an armed conflict to “do everything feasible to verify” their objects of attack and take “all precautions” to minimize civilian casualties and unintentional damage to civilian property. This obligation has been interpreted in international law to require state parties to set up an “effective intelligence gathering system” that would properly identify targets using all technical means at the disposal of the combating forces.

But existing law has failed to define what “effective intelligence” looks like. Quite the opposite. Modern history is filled with examples of intelligence …

The Orkney Slew And Central Bank Digital Currencies, Jeffery Y. Zhang, Gary B. Gordon

Articles

This Article on central bank digital currencies is motivated by a parable, The Orkney Slew, which is set in an archipelago. Based on the parable, we point out a significant economic market failure that exists in the cross-border payments realm. The analysis then focuses on real-world examples and the national security concerns, including for Anti-Money Laundering/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and the continued efficacy of U.S. sanctions, associated with the rapidly evolving digital payments landscape.

Many central banks around the world are now cooperatively experimenting with cross-border interoperability of digital currencies. These efforts are driven by the idea of …

Not A Suicide Pact: Urgent Strategic Recommendations For Reducing Domestic Terrorism In The United States, Barbara L. Mcquade

Articles

America’s Bill of Rights protects U.S. citizens’ rights to free speech, to bear arms, and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, among other things. But, as the Supreme Court has consistently held, no right is absolute. All rights must be balanced against other societal needs, including and especially public safety. As the threat of domestic terrorism metastasizes in the United States, Americans need to use the practical wisdom that Justice Robert L. Jackson advised in 1949 to ensure the survival of the republic.

In recognition of this growing threat, the Biden administration issued the nation’s first National Strategy …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Tightwire Of National Interests And Publicity In The Evolved Process Of Democratization And Constitutional Transformation: Lessons From Taiwan, Hsin-Hsuan Lin

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

Achieving an optimal balance between government secrecy and democratic accountability has led to long-standing questions in the discussion of contemporary constitutionalism. To address the complex contemporary phenomenon of government secrecy within a democratic society, a more in-depth understanding of its tension with democratic accountability and transparency is essential. This article provides a descriptive overview of Taiwan's legal system, its legal implications in relation to government secrecy, and its normative implications. The article begins with a historical background of Taiwan's legal system, focusing on legal reform as it relates to government secrecy. The article investigates the complex interactions between the administrative, …

A Bull In A China Shop: How Cfius Made Tiktok A National Security Problem, Adina Feder

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The note critiques the expansion of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' (CFIUS) mandate under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), particularly its inclusion of "sensitive personal data" as a factor in national security reviews. This expansion has led to overly broad and vague definitions, resulting in unnecessary restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) without adequately addressing legitimate national security concerns. The note argues that data privacy issues should be addressed through separate federal privacy legislation rather than CFIUS, which is ill-suited to handle such matters. It calls for clearer definitions and a …

'Are We Doing The Right Thing?' Utilising Security Governance To Reform The Us Drone Program, Jane Minson

Theses

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, for counterterrorism purposes by the United States within its targeted killing program has been deeply controversial. Used in each presidential administration since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, drones have sparked debate, in part due to their contribution to civilian deaths; their killing of high-value terrorist targets including, on at least one occasion, a US citizen; and the heightened secrecy that has surrounded the program with little formal oversight and, as such, little accountability. This thesis uses this contextual framework – with a particular focus on the administration of President Barack …

The Amorphous Nature Of Hackers: An Exploratory Study, Kento Yasuhara, Daniel Walnycky, Ibrahim Baggili, Ahmed Alhishwan

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In this work, we aim to better understand outsider perspectives of the hacker community through a series of situation based survey questions. By doing this, we hope to gain insight into the overall reputation of hackers from participants in a wide range of technical and non-technical backgrounds. This is important to digital forensics since convicted hackers will be tried by people, each with their own perception of who hackers are. Do cyber crimes and national security issues negatively affect people’s perceptions of hackers? Does hacktivism and information warfare positively affect people’s perception of hackers? Do individual personality factors affect one’s …

Digital Forensics For Mobility As A Service Platform: Analysis Of Uber Application On Iphone And Cloud, Nina Matulis, Umit Karabiyik

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Uber is a ride-hailing smartphone application (app) that allows users to order a ride in a highly efficient manner. The Uber app provides Mobility as a Service and allows users to easily order a ride in a private car with just a few clicks. Uber stores large amounts of data on both the mobile device the app is being used on, and in the cloud. Examples of this data include geolocation data, date/time, origin/destination addresses, departure/arrival times, and distance. Uber geolocation data has been previously researched to investigate the privacy of the Uber app; however, there is minimal research relating …

Smart Home Forensics: Identifying Ddos Attack Patterns On Iot Devices, Samuel Ho, Hope Greeson, Umit Karabiyik

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Smart homes are becoming more common as more people integrate IoT devices into their home environment. As such, these devices have access to personal data on their homeowners’ networks. One of the advantages of IoT devices is that they are compact. However, this limits the incorporation of security measures in their hardware. Misconfigured IoT devices are commonly the target of malicious attacks. Additionally, distributed denial-of-service attacks are becoming more common due to applications and software that provides users with easy-to-use user interfaces. Since one vulnerable device is all an attacker needs to launch an attack on a network, in regards …

Microsoft Defender Will Be Defended: Memoryranger Prevents Blinding Windows Av, Denis Pogonin, Igor Korkin, Phd

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Windows OS is facing a huge rise in kernel attacks. An overview of popular techniques that result in loading kernel drivers will be presented. One of the key targets of modern threats is disabling and blinding Microsoft Defender, a default Windows AV. The analysis of recent driver-based attacks will be given, the challenge is to block them. The survey of user- and kernel-level attacks on Microsoft Defender will be given. One of the recently published attackers’ techniques abuses Mandatory Integrity Control (MIC) and Security Reference Monitor (SRM) by modifying Integrity Level and Debug Privileges for the Microsoft Defender via syscalls. …

Anatomy Of An Internet Hijack And Interception Attack: A Global And Educational Perspective, Ben A. Scott, Michael N. Johnstone, Patryk Szewczyk

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Internet’s underlying vulnerable protocol infrastructure is a rich target for cyber crime, cyber espionage and cyber warfare operations. The stability and security of the Internet infrastructure are important to the function of global matters of state, critical infrastructure, global e-commerce and election systems. There are global approaches to tackle Internet security challenges that include governance, law, educational and technical perspectives. This paper reviews a number of approaches to these challenges, the increasingly surgical attacks that target the underlying vulnerable protocol infrastructure of the Internet, and the extant cyber security education curricula; we find the majority of predominant cyber security …

The Use And Abuse Of Domestic National Security Detention, Nicole Hallett

Seattle University Law Review

Are people convicted of terrorism-related offenses so dangerous that we must bend the Constitution to keep the public safe? Or should we treat them like people who commit other crimes—by prosecuting, convicting, sentencing, and then releasing them after they have served their criminal sentences? Can we trust the government to use the power to detain people without criminal charge without abusing it? The case of Adham Amin Hassoun raises these questions. Prosecuted after 9/11 for providing support to Muslims abroad in the 1990s, and sentenced under the United States’ expansive material support laws, Hassoun avoided a life sentence only to …

The United States Is Enabling An Outer Space Arms Race: An Overview Of The Current Framework And Recommendations For Abating An Outer Space Arms Race, Valerie Shmigol

Seattle University Law Review

This Note explores the possibility of future armed outer space conflict as global powers create and test counterspace weapons. Part I of this Note overviews current space security threats, focusing on China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea’s capabilities. Part II provides a primer on international agreements governing outer space. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty serves as the legal framework for outer space activities; however, it is woefully inadequate in addressing escalating tensions. Finally, Part III provides recommendations and advocates for the United States to revise its position, which seeks voluntary “transparency and confidence building measures.”

Securing The Precipitous Heights: U.S. Lawfare As A Means To Confront China At Sea, In Space, And Cyberspace, Garret S. Bowman

Pace International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property & National Security, James Morrison

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Defend Forward & Sovereignty: How America’S Cyberwar Strategy Upholds International Law, Elya Taichman

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

To thwart a seemingly neve rending bombardment of cyberattacks, the U.S. Department of Defense recently implemented a new strategy – defending forward. This approach demands persistently engaging the enemy on a daily basis to disrupt cyber activity. Rather than waiting to be attacked, the United States is bringing the fight to the enemy. However, this strategy poses fascinating and complex questions of international law. In particular, because most defend forward operations fall within the gray zone of warfare, it remains unclear whether these operations violate the sovereignty of American adversaries or even third party nation states in whose cyberspace U.S. …

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Adding Bite To The Zone Of Twilight: Applying Kisor To Revitalize The Youngstown Tripartite, Zachary W. Singer

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

In the half century and more since Justice Jackson’s famous concurrence in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, the fog surrounding acceptable executive power in national security and foreign affairs has only thickened. Today, whether presidents are responding to the challenges of an amorphous global war on terrorism or a global pandemic, they act against a backdrop of ambiguous constitutional and statutory authorization and shifting precedent. While Justice Jackson outlined zones of presidential power by tying that power to congressional acts, the Court subsequently watered down the test by looking to other factors, like legislative intent. At other …

If You Think Ai Won't Eclipse Humanity, You're Probably Just A Human, Gary D. Brown

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Building machines that can replicate human thinking and behavior has fascinated people for hundreds of years. Stories about robots date from ancient history through da Vinci to the present. Whether designed to save labor or lives, to provide companionship or protection, loyal, capable, productive machines are a dream of humanity.

The modern manifestation of this interest in using human-like technology to advance social interests is artificial intelligence (AI). This is a paper about what that interest in AI means and how it might develop in the world of national security.

This abstract has been adapted from the author's introduction.

Murky Materiality & Scattered Standards: In Favor Of A More Uniform System Of Sst Disclosure Requirements, Megan Ganley

Fordham Law Review

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires corporations to disclose their business in or with state sponsors of terrorism (SSTs). The SEC solicits these disclosures with varying standards arising under several different mechanisms. These mechanisms include the requirements of the materiality standard, the provisions of Regulation S-K, targeted inquiry in individually issued comment letters, and affirmative requirements mandated under specific legislation. Each of these mechanisms requires disclosure of slightly different information regarding SSTs with varying degrees of exactitude. This Note examines the SEC’s current SST disclosure framework, considering the benefits, as well as the criticisms, of these disclosure mandates. This …

Digital Privacy Rights And Cloud Act Agreements, Tim Cochrane

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) will soon bring into force a new international law enforcement data sharing ‘CLOUD Act agreement’ (US-UK Agreement), the first of its kind under the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act 2018 (CLOUD Act). These agreements enable law enforcement in one state to directly request data from service providers based in the other state. They respond to long-standing concerns with the main mechanism for obtaining overseas data, mutual legal assistance (MLA). The US and UK claim the US-UK Agreement will significantly speed up data access relative to MLA while “respecting privacy and …

Prosecuting The Phone Scammer When Extradition Fails And Concurrent Jurisdiction Exists, Michelle Lepkofker

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Advancements in technology allow people to place phone calls half a world away via the internet. This technology has made it easier and cheaper for consumers to communicate, but it has also made it easier for scammers to reach more unsuspecting victims. In 2020, TrueCaller, an app designed to block scam phone calls, successfully blocked, and identified 31.3 billion spam calls in 20 countries. In the same year, Americans alone lost a total of USD $ 29.8 billion to scam calls. This Note argues that phone scams continue to be lucrative, in part, because criminal prosecutions of transnational crimes are …

Autonomous Weapons Systems And The Procedural Accounta- Bility Gap, Afonso Seixas-Nunes

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The development and well-established principles of Internationla Humanitarian Law have been progressively establishing limits to the means and methods of warfare. Those principles and rules are necessarily applicable to future autonomous weapon systems (AWS), but questions regarding liability for violations of IHL caused by AWS have been looming the international debate. This article has two parts. The first part aims to identify a technical dimension of AWS that has been neglected by international lawyers: States responsibility for IHL violations caused by errors in AWS’ software. This article argues that “errors” can neither be identified with “malfunctions” nor attributed to human …

Sino-Indian Border Disputes In An Era Of Strategic Expansions, Roman Muzalevsky

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The June 2020 clash between the People’s Republic of China and India in the disputed Ladakh border area resulted from the strategic expansions of both powers. Like two bubbles expanding in a contained space, these expansions were bound to collide and cause friction. This article explains how the expansions precipitated the incident and might exacerbate border disputes in the future. In pondering implications, it recommends Washington pursue a Eurasia-focused policy embracing the disputed region.

The Air Littoral: Another Look, Maximilian K. Bremer, Kelly A. Grieco

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Assessing threats to the air littoral, the airspace between ground forces and high-end fighters and bombers, requires a paradigm change in American military thinking about verticality. This article explores the consequences of domain convergence, specifically for the Army and Air Force’s different concepts of control. It will assist US military and policy practitioners in conceptualizing the air littoral and in thinking more vertically about the air and land domains and the challenges of domain convergence.

The Grand Strategic Thought Of Colin S. Gray, Lukas Milevski

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Colin S. Gray distinguished himself from other scholars in the field of strategic studies with his belief that grand strategy is indispensable, complex, and inherently agential. This article identifies key themes, continuities, conceptual relationships, and potential discontinuities from his decades of grand strategic thought. Gray’s statement that “all strategy is grand strategy” remains highly relevant today, emphasizing the importance of agential context in military environments—a point often neglected in strategic practice.