Active self-defense strategy best deterrent against cyber-attacks: "With the threats of cybercrime, cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare looming over our hyper-connected world, the best defense for the U.S. might be a good offense, says new research by a University of Illinois expert in technology and legal issues.
Law professor Jay P. Kesan warns that an active self-defense regime, which he terms 'mitigative counterstriking,' is a necessity in cyberspace, especially to protect critical infrastructure such as banking, utilities and emergency services.
'The threats from cyber-attacks are real, and the harm of a potential attack can be far greater than what we can currently combat,' Kesan said.
Kesan's analysis, co-written with former U. of I. law student Carol M. Hayes and published in a forthcoming issue of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, concludes that mitigative counterstriking against attacks instead of simply relying on passive defense options (firewalls, patches and anti-virus software) is legally justifiable as self-defense, although a more exhaustive legal framework needs to be implemented."
