Podcast and article: Gwen Strasberg on “Collective Countermeasures in Cyberspace”
What to do about harmful activities in cyberspace is one of the most confounding problems of international law today. It is particularly a problem when the victim state has limited cyber capabilities with which to respond. Could collective countermeasures be part of the solution?
In today’s presentation Gwen Strasberg addressees that issue, and it was part of the panel discussion at the 17th International Conference on Cyber Conflict hosted by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia.
Gwen’s commentary, which she presents in her personal capacity, unpacks the often misunderstood concept of countermeasures, and makes the case that more clarity about the lawfulness of collective countermeasures could mitigate the risk of escalation.
The video of the panel is here, and you can find Gwen’s portion from about the 4 minute point to the about minute 17, but I do recommend listening or watching the whole panel discussion (I think watching is better for this one because Gwen has slides that are helpful).
Despite the complexity of the topic, I think you’ll find her presentation accessible even if you are not an expert. But if you are an expert and want more detail (or simply someone who wants a deeper dive), Gwen co-authored (with Andom Gherezghiher) an academic paper entitled “Police Your Own: Establishing an “Unwilling or Unable” Analog for Deploying Collective Countermeasures in Cyberspace”, and it and be found here. The paper’s abstract is below.
Abstract
In today’s digital age, each nation’s capacity to police its own cyber infrastructure is crucial to maintaining stability across the global ecosystem. Interconnected networks subvert traditional notions of territorial sovereignty. Apathy toward (or support of) malicious actors by any single State threatens the broader international community in cyberspace.
Accordingly, vast disparities in cyber capabilities and responsiveness render collective action a valuable resource for digitally vulnerable States. Limiting States to collective self-defense for third-party intervention pushes them to aggressively and belligerently characterize incidents to elicit third- party assistance.
Establishing an alternate mechanism for joint action against nefarious activity via lower-threshold collective countermeasures would result in a more secure and organized global network. Despite major endorsements, however, there remains a lack of international consensus regarding the permissiveness or prohibition of collective countermeasures.
Given the vast potential for policing cyberspace, establishing criteria for the use of collective countermeasures is critically necessary in the development of cyberlaw. In pursuit of that development, this work traces collective self-defense and collective countermeasures to a common legal foundation in the prohibition of acts of aggression and resulting due diligence obligations.
After identifying support in international law, this paper introduces a unifying four-factor test for deploying collective countermeasures, thereby operationalizing the concept and establishing a clear, replicable threshold for implementation in cyberspace
A LENS Scholar!
I am very pleased to tell you that Gwen was part of the Class of 2024 Center on Law, Ethics and National Security (LENS) Scholar Program. The Scholars are selected by their professors and their attendance at our annual national security law conference is facilitated by LENS. Moreover, there is a special event just for them and other benefits. Gwen enjoyed here experience; in fact at the time she said:
“[There is] a warm and collegial networking opportunity that surpassed the bounds of anything I have encountered in law school and beyond…this event is easily the highlight of my time as a law student. Not only do I feel more passion for this career path as I walk out of this weekend, but I am very impressed by the students who I will (hopefully) have the privilege of working with.”
When she recently relayed to me that she had spoken at her first professional conference since graduating law school, she added:
I was lucky I had gone to the Duke conference previously, it was the best primer I could have asked for to prepare me for the CyCon proceedings— I sat on a panel about collective countermeasures, and I think without the LENS experience, I would have felt completely in the dark in terms of what I was headed into.
I think here presentation was terrific as was her paper which she co-authored. Gwen epitomizes what the Scholars program is supposed to be about, and we are very proud of her.
About the Speaker
Gwendolyn Strasberg is from Los Angeles, California, and is a graduate of New York University School of Law where she was a Cyber Scholar and Managing Student Editor of Just Security. She also holds a Master of Public Diplomacy and Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Southern California. Gwendolyn is an officer in the United States Marine Corps, with experience in matters of national security related to cyberspace.
Disclaimers:
The views and opinions presented in the video and the paper are those of the speakers/authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense/War or the United States Marine Corps. Discussions of, or reference to, any interpretations of the law do not constitute DoD/DoW endorsement of the those positions. The appearance of external links does not constitute DoD/DoW endorsement of the linked websites, or the information therein.
The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect my views, those of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, or Duke University. See also here.
Remember what we like to say on Lawfire®: gather the facts, examine the law, evaluate the arguments – and then decide for yourself!
