Law and Security / Cyber Security
Expert conference
Details
Threats from the cyberspace constitute a great challenge for the established national and in-ternational security policy. The NSA wiretapping affair has made cyber security a headline worldwide. The remote spying and targeted infrastructure attacks against the essential infra-structure of entire nations (for example Estonia in 2007 or South Korea in 2013) are results of the rapid development of the information and communication technology of the internet. This begs the question of what legal provisions should accompany this technology, and if these provisions can effectively protect both citizens and states. Therefore the worldwide Rule of Law Programme of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), with the 10th Conference on Public International Law, is dedicated to the theme “Cyber Security.” Together with selected German and international experts the key challenges of effective legal protection in this area will be discussed.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Venue:
Kurfürstenallee 1
53177 Bonn-Bad Godesberg
6.00 pm
Opening of the conference
Dr. Gerhard Wahlers
Deputy Secretary General of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)
6.10 pm
Keynote speech: ‘Challenges of an effective cyber defence within the age of global connection’
Dr. Hans-Georg Maaßen
President of the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany)
6.40 pm
Comments:
Professor Russell A. Miller, LL.M.
School of Law, Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia, USA
Followed by a reception
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Venue:
Berliner Freiheit 2
53111 Bonn
9.00 am
Panel 1: Cyber Security Policy in a multi-level system
The first step is to investigate how regional, national and international actors can cooperate to develop a coherent strategy for the three key areas of cyber security: cyber-crime (violations of property rights of non-state actors), cyber-espionage (targeted attacks against other states’ agencies and enterprises) and cyber-war (as a “fifth” dimension of military conflict). Although some states, for example the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011, have formulated their own cyber-security strategy as action plans, international cooperation in this area is vital, as classic territorial approaches are not enforceable with this global medium. Multilateral arrangements, agreements and Confidence-Building Measures on a regional level, for example in the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the ASEAN Regional Forum, as well as international such as within the framework of the UN and NATO are winning ever more of a meaning in this context. Even so, states attempt to halt bilateral cyber consultations. But how does the cooperation in this multi-level system work exactly and how will non-state actors, especially economic ones, become involved in the security policy process? Would it be possible to create an international code of conduct for state behaviour in cyberspace?
Chaired by:
Dr. Patrick Keller
KAS Coordinator Foreign and Security Policy
Speakers:
- Professor Chris C. Demchak, PhD
Strategic Research Department of the US Naval War College (NWC) and NWC Center for Cyber Conflict
Newport, Rhode Island, USA
- Adam J. Mambi
Director of the Research Department at the Law Reform Commission of Tanzania
Consultant to the ITU (Intellectual Telecommu-nication Union) on Cyber Security Laws
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
- Dr. Sonia Juliana García-Vargas, M.A.
Director for Internal Security and Infrastructure at the Colombian Ministry of Defence, inter alia responsible for the coordination of the units combating cyber attacks
Bogotá, Colombia
Discussion
11.00 am
Coffee break
11.30 am
Panel 2: Conventional Legal Protection in the age of Cyber Crime and Cyber Espionage
Cyber crimes are committed across borders; however, the rules for the persecution of these crimes are heterogeneous. How can effective legal protection for personal data and classified documents be ensured when criminals reside in states that do not persecute these crimes?
Therefore in matters of cyber crime the harmonisation of laws and the sharing of information between states have a central meaning. On the level of the Council of Europe this concern with respect to cyber crime was addressed with the “Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime”, which has been in force since 2004 and also regulates judicial cooperation with non-European states such as the USA and Canada. But how can such an agreement effectively guarantee individual protection without granting individuals the opportunity to file actions directly before regional or international courts of justice? And how can the harmonisation of cyber crime provisions keep up with continued technological developments? How can “gaps” in the law enforcement process be avoided?
A further point of discussion is the creation of regional and international data protection agreements – for example as was suggested by Chancellor Merkel to codify a European data protection law. Thus, will this lead to defining clear rules of action in regard to cyber-espionage? How can the state’s need for security be balanced with the fundamental freedom of expression and privacy rights (i.e. in Germany the right to informational self-determination as guaranteed by Article 2.1 in conjuction with 1.1 of the German Basic Law)?
Chaired by:
Dr. Katja Gelinsky, LL.M.
KAS Coordinator Legal Policies
Speakers:
- Professor Russell A. Miller, LL.M.
School of Law, Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia, USA
- Dr. Deliang Liu
School of Law, Beijing Normal University
Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Cyber-Law Studies
Beijing, China
- Jürgen Storbeck
Former Director of Europol (European Police Office)
Germany
- Virgil Spiridon
Head of the Cyber Crime Unit at the Romanian National Police
Bucharest, Romania
Discussion
1.30 pm
Lunch
3.00 pm
Panel 3: The “Fifth-Dimension” of War: Cyber War as a Challenge for Public International Law
Guaranteeing state security in cyberspace requires a new examination of the basic principles of public international law. The systematic development of cyber warfare capacities of na-tional security agencies and militaries is increasingly leading to a blurring of the boundaries between internal and external security. Therefore, classical arms control instruments have limited reach in this area; how do you clearly classify “cyber weapons” as such and ban them, when they are not only militarily useful but have a civil purpose as well? Public International Law is based on a framework which is oriented on classic inter-state conflict, and cyber at-tacks are only attributable to other states in the rarest of cases. In asymmetric conflicts the “hacker” now has a central role and a fifth dimension is added to land, water, air and outer space: cyberspace. But how exactly is the cyberspace legally defined? Does a cyber attack violate the prohibition of force outlined in Article 2 (4) of the UN charter? Can a cyber attack allow the right of military self defense outlined in Article 39 of the UN charter, if it cannot be certainly attributed to another subject of international law? Identifying and attributing cyber attacks calls both the constitutional and international regulations into question in such an event, and highlights the need for further development of those rules.
The Conference on Public International Law will, in its anniversary year, serve as an interna-tional forum for discourse about the legal challenges of cyber security. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung wishes to make a contribution to what is one of the central themes of security policy in the 21st Century.
Chaired by:
Thorsten Geissler
Director KAS Rule of Law Programme South-East Europe
Speakers:
- Stefan Sohm
Head of the Public International Law and Legal Basis for Deployments abroad of German Armed Forces Section
Federal Ministry of Defence
Berlin, Germany
- Hila Adler
Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
PhD Candidate on Cyber Warfare
Former Head of the International and Civil Law Section of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)
School of Military Law
Jerusalem, Israel
- Professor Dr. Seong Woo Ji
School of Law, Sungkyunkwan University
Seoul, South Korea
Discussion
5.00 pm
Closing remarks
Peter Girke
KAS Coordinator Rule of Law Programme
5.10 pm
End of conference
Followed by a reception
Participation only by personal invitation.
