From Santiago to Singapore: Professor Schmitt talks Cyber Operations

The course addressed the international law that applies to cyber operations conducted by States, as well those launched by non-State entities such as hacktivists, hacker group, and terrorists.  Among the subjects covered were the jurisdiction over those who engage in hostile cyber operations, attribution of cyber attacks to States, human rights in cyberspace, and cyber operations during armed conflict. The course is part of a capacity-building program sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs known as the “Hague Process”.  It was offered in collaboration with the Organization of American State, the Chilean government, the Canadian government, and Cyber Law International, a consultation and training firm specializing in the cyber law.

While in Santiago, he also spoke by skype to a major conference on cyber security (the Singapore International Cyber Week) convened by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.  The panel in which he participated was devoted to a discussion of the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations, the culmination of a 7-year project he directed under the auspices of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. It included representatives from the US Department of State and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs who spoke of the impact of the Tallinn Manual project in international cyber norms.

Professor Schmitt’s most recent publication on cyber law, published this month in the Yale Journal of International Law, can be found at: http://www.yjil.yale.edu/grey-zones-in-the-international-law-of-cyberspace/.