A NATO affiliate spent three years with some of the finest academic lawyers on the planet trying to figure out how to define “cyberwar” better than the US Senate. It’s a shame they never asked any hackers, though, because the only thing the definition includes is “black ice” straight out of Neuromancer, which we’re pretty sure isn’t real. Join us for an introduction to international law, war law, the Tallinn Manual, and the reason it matters that twelve academics in Estonia can’t define a word.
Brendan O’Connor is a geek of many trades. While he’s a full-time law student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (set to graduate in May 2014), his consultancy, Malice Afterthought, completed two DARPA Cyber Fast Track contracts during his first two years in law school. He has also taught information warfare for the DoD, played the violin (now for more than 21 years), obtained his Amateur Extra certification, and wished fervently that his two cats would think of him as more than (a provider of) food.