The United States' Defend Forward Cyber Strategy

A Comprehensive Legal Assessment

Jack Goldsmith editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:1st Jun '22

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

The United States' Defend Forward Cyber Strategy cover

In the 2010s, America's adversaries conducted numerous damaging cyber operations inside the United States: the Office of Personnel Management breach, attacks on banks, persistent intellectual property theft by China, and the Russian intervention in the 2016 election. The US--possessor of the world's most powerful cyber arsenal--responded in 2018 by unveiling a new Defend Forward strategy. It is a large step in the direction of more aggressive action in cyberspace--albeit for defensive ends. The US has not attempted to hide this shift. To the contrary, it has telegraphed the change. But the telegraphing has taken place at a highly abstract level. Very little is known about precisely what types of operations Defend Forward entails. While the US government has asserted that Defend Forward is consistent with domestic and international law, it has not explained how the new strategy overcomes the perceived legal constraints that previously tempered US responses to cyber intrusions and threats. This volume, edited by Jack Goldsmith and featuring a cast of leading scholars in the field, provides an authoritative overview of the origins and operation of Defend Forward, and a comprehensive assessment of its legality. For anyone interested in the future of great power conflict and the cyber strategies that the US is deploying against its adversaries, The United States' Defend Forward Cyber Strategy is an essential read.

The Department of Defense's shift in 2018 to a posture of persistence in operations and forward cyber defense is an important step toward achieving better national cybersecurity. The United States' Defend Forward Cyber Strategy is an indispensable contribution to understanding this novel strategic approach and the important, related questions raised at the intersection of domestic and international law and policy. The essays in this volume, written by leading experts from the academy and the U.S. government, tackle these questions with unique expertise and exceptional insight. They provide invaluable guidance for ensuring the U.S. can defend forward in cyberspace consistent with its commitment to the rule of law. * Admiral (retired) Michael S. Rogers, Former Director, National Security Agency and Commander, U.S. Cyber Command *
America's Defend Forward cyber strategy is a momentous change in the approach to cyber conflict that has, to date, been under analyzed. This new groundbreaking volume begins that inquiry. It is the first thorough and thoughtful account of the legal underpinnings of Defend Forward. The analysis is of such high quality that it will, no doubt, be the baseline examination that defines the field for years to come. * Paul Rosenzweig, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security *
Goldsmith's volume offers a welcome tour d'horizon of the domestic, international, and comparative legal issues associated with the United States' Defend Forward strategy and the tactics of persistent engagement that support it. With chapters by leading government and academic experts, this book surveys key legal restraints and authorities under the U.S. Constitution and other domestic laws as well as all the relevant international legal topics such as sovereignty, intervention, counter-measures, and attribution. Supplemented by comparisons to Israeli and U.K. approaches, the result is not simply an introduction to an under-explored topic, but a lasting—and significant—contribution to the field. * Duncan B. Hollis, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law, Temple Law School *

ISBN: 9780197601808

Dimensions: 150mm x 226mm x 28mm

Weight: 544g

384 pages