Navigating cyber law: Insights from the 2024 cyber law toolkit

To understand the legal side of cyber operations, nations need to use the new toolkit named “Cyberlaw.” It is very helpful for military lawyers and governments to understand ‌cyber incidents. It is also helpful to analyze how different nations apply international law to these situations. 

This toolkit has been updated for 2024. Now it includes new real-life cyber cases and legal opinions from different nations. Most of the time, officials need legal advice before launching operations. At that time, this toolkit is useful, especially when defending against cyber attacks. The central focus of the new updates is state-sponsored cyber operations, attacks on critical infrastructure, and cyber threats from non-state actors. 

Why it is important to know about cyber attacks?

The update of this toolkit expresses the importance of knowing about cyber attacks. As the world grows, threats are getting worse every day. So, the government needs to stay up-to-date and get information on legal issues. It provides a deep understanding of ‌evolving challenges in cyberspace. Toolkit also ensures better preparation and defense against cyber attacks.  

Many new scenarios are introduced in the 2024 update. All of these cases based on real cyber incidents and present many national viewpoints. The central focus is on the main complexities in cyberspace. It includes cyberattacks that governments have carried out and threats to infrastructure. Countries are becoming more open about how they see international law applying in the digital world. Toolkit also offers valuable resources for all those nations that have not yet shared their views. 

It provides a way to compare how different countries interpret international law concerning cyber activities. Furthermore, the 2024 update has scenarios inspired by real-life cyber events. Every scenario has a detailed legal analysis. This detail gives clarity about how the law applies to different situations and what type of legal challenge can appear. 

This helps countries and organizations understand the legal effects of cyberattacks better. It also shows how international law can be used to deal with these growing threats in a digital world that is always changing.

Furthermore, this toolkit is updated on a regular note to make sure about the latest changes in international laws and cyber operations. It offers new insights into worldwide developments. The 2024 update also shows current practices and expert opinions in this rapidly changing field. Professor Kubo Mačák from the University of Exeter leads the project. 

Tomáš Minárik from the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency and Otakar Horák from NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence also joined him in this project. Additionally, 50 external experts have done the deep review of the Toolkit and scenarios. Professor Mačák shows the importance of cyber operations in military and government strategies to know deeply about legal limits.  

Toolkit is the key resource to find the solution 

The Cyber Law Toolkit is a key resource for anyone who has these difficult problems. It gives up-to-date and practical advice on how international law applies to cyber incidents.

The newly updated scenarios focus on crucial issues in cybersecurity. Scenario 30 sheds light on how nations make hidden doors in each other’s computer systems. Scenario 31 discusses the usage of illegal content during war. Scenario 32 questions if certain cyber actions could lead to personal criminal charges for aggression.

The total collection has 72 real incidents. Recent examples from last year include cyberattacks on authorities in Pennsylvania. Attacks on ‌NATO’s mission in Turkey and Syria are also ‌part of this collection.

The Toolkit is growing by tracking 39 countries’ positions and one from the African Union. Countries like Austria, the Czech Republic, and Costa Rica have recognized the Toolkit as important for shaping their cybersecurity plans. Costa Rica even mentioned it as a useful resource for building legal skills at a UN Security Council meeting in June 2024