Cyber

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The United Kingdom on International Law in Cyberspace

The United Kingdom has long been a thought leader in applying international law to cyberspace. In 2018, the then-Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, spoke on the subject in a granular address at Chatham House, making the United Kingdom one of the first countries to set forth its views on how international law applies to cyberspace during peacetime and armed conflict. The topics ranged from sovereignty and non-intervention to human rights and international humanitarian law. Although many other states have since embraced most of the views expressed therein, and rightly so, the Chatham House address is best remembered for Wright’s surprising rejection of a rule of sovereignty applicable to cyber operations. Every state that has taken a firm and unambiguous position on the matter has disagreed with the U.K. assertion (most recently Canada). Given that fact, the debate has taken on disproportionate dimensions during discussions on how international law governs cyberspace, masking the substantial agreement that exists between the United Kingdom and other states. This…

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The Istanbul Convention: A Missed Opportunity in Mainstreaming Cyberviolence against Women in Human Rights Law?

The monitoring body of the Council of Europe (CoE) Istanbul Convention, GREVIO, has recently adopted its very first General Recommendation which is specifically devoted to the ‘Digital Dimension of Violence against Women’. This development is important considering that the text of the Istanbul Convention had no direct or indirect reference to cyber forms of violence…

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Ukranian ‘IT Army’: A Cyber Levée en Masse or Civilians Directly Participating in Hostilities?

In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov announced in a tweet the creation of an ‘IT Army’. According to reports, as many as 400, 000 people from across the world have joined. A list of targets has been published and…

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Unilateral Economic Sanctions to Deter and Punish Cyber-Attacks: Are They Here to Stay?

In June 2021 during the Biden-Putin summit, President Biden stated that critical infrastructure should be “off-limits” to cyber-attacks and handed over a list of 16 areas of critical infrastructure that under no circumstance should be targeted by cyber-attacks. This took place after the SolarWinds cyber-attack that was described by SolarWinds Vice-President as “your worst nightmare”.

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The Oxford Statement on International Law Protections in Cyberspace: The Regulation of Ransomware Operations

In the past few months, nothing has reminded everyone of the etymology of the expression ‘computer virus’ like ransomware. This form of malicious code is delivered through a vulnerability in the victim’s system, such as a phishing email or password spraying, infiltrating and potentially crippling it like a disease. Specifically, ransomware is used to encrypt user data and…

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