Harvard Law School Library at Langdon Hall

Professor Mike Schmitt speaks at Harvard Law School

Professor Mike Schmitt spoke on cyber operations and international law at Harvard University Law School on 23 November.

Schmitt is a Fellow at the School’s Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC). Schmitt discussed the challenges of applying international law’s prohibition on the use of force to hostile cyber operations and the difficulties in determining when the right of self-defence is applicable to cyber attacks by States and non-State actors. He also addressed the increasing use of cyber operations during armed conflicts, such as that occurring in Syria. Professor Schmitt is presently leading the Tallinn Cyber Manual 2.0 Project. That project, under the auspices of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, has brought together 20 international law experts from around the world to produce a manual on the international law governing cyber conflict. It will update and expand the Tallinn Manual, published in 2013 by Cambridge University Press, which is currently the definitive work in the field. Schmitt is a Senior Fellow at the NATO Center.

Date: 30 November 2015