Legal Clarity Recommended for Understanding Cyberthreat Offense and Defense
January 2, 2017
Recently a conference took place about cybersecurity in the enterprise world. In the Computer World article, Offensive hackers should be part of enterprise DNA, the keynote speaker’s address is quoted heavily. CEO of Endgame Nate Fick addressed the audience, which apparently included many offensive hackers, by speaking about his experience in the private sector and in the military. His perspective is shared,
“We need discontinuity in the adoption cure,” Fick said, “but you can’t hack back. Hacking back is stupid, for many reasons not just that it is illegal.” He argued that while it is illegal, laws change. “Remember it used to be illegal to drink a beer in this country, and it was legal for a kid to work in a coal mine,” he said. Beyond the issue of legality, hacking back is, what Fick described as, climbing up the escalatory ladder, which you can’t do successfully unless you have the right tools. The tools and the power or ability to use them legally has historically been granted to the government.
Perhaps looking toward a day where hacking back will not be illegal, Fick explains an alternative course of action. He advocates for stronger defense and clear government policies around cybersecurity that declare what constitutes as a cyberthreat offense. The strategy being that further action on behalf of the attacked would count as defense. We will be keeping our eyes on how long hacking back remains illegal in some jurisdictions.
Megan Feil, January 2, 2017
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