Protecting Civilian Institutions and Infrastructure from Cyber Operations: Designing International Law and Organizations

The Center for International Law and Governance 

The new Center for International Law and Governance at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy has undertaken, as its inaugural project, to mount an interdisciplinary effort to evaluate the need, structure, and possibility for international law and organization to protect civilians from government-initiated cyber-attacks in peacetime. The mission of the Center is to promote sustainable and pragmatic solutions to managing global challenges, drawing on expertise from multiple disciplines. This project will proceed through coordinated research by a group of private sector experts, government personnel, and scholars, to be presented at a conference to be held at the Fletcher School in Medford MA from mid-day on September 14, 2018 to early afternoon on September 15, 2018.

Conference Program

Featured Speakers:

Admiral James Stavridis (USN- retired), Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe

Ambassador Marina Kaljurand, former Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Panel and Paper One: Attribution: The technical and legal challenges in creating an international organization or framework to attribute cyber attacks on civilian institutions and infrastructure, and an exploration of the configurations this regime may take.

Panel and Paper Two: Standards: Standard-setting to create robust and resilient civilian infrastructure that can prevent or mitigate the effects of cyber attacks.

Panel and Paper Three: Export Controls: Export controls to prevent the proliferation of malicious cyber tools targeting civilian institutions and infrastructure: what might they look like — from legal and technical perspectives — and challenges posed by dual use digital technologies for non-proliferation.

Panel and Paper Four: Vulnerability Disclosure: The legal and technical challenges of creating a multilateral framework for  information sharing to prevent and mitigate the impact of cyber attacks on civilian institutions and infrastructure, drawing on lessons learnt from previous and ongoing efforts like the Budapest Convention.

Panel and Paper Five: Compliance: Exploring whether new or existing instruments of international law can induce, enforce or socialize cooperation among states and non-state actors to prevent and respond to cyber attacks on civilian institutions and infrastructure.

Panel Six: Cybersecurity and International Organizations