The Open World, Hackbacks and Global Justice

The book explores the current impasse that global regulators face in the digital age and proposes a third moral rationale for cyber security policies: capability theory. It argues that a capability-based defense of retaliatory hackbacks can minimize attribution and cyber-escalation risks, deter bad behavior, and satisfy calls for more retributive and distributive justice.

Format: Hardback
Length: 354 pages
Publication date: 29 January 2023
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

The digital realm presents a complex conundrum for global regulators, as the advancements in computer technology have exponentially propelled human civilization forward. However, the freedom to engage in cyberspace has simultaneously exposed individuals, discrete communities, organizations, and governments to heightened vulnerability to abuse. Consequently, political decision-makers are actively exploring the possibility of granting limited legal immunity to victims who opt for retaliatory "hack-backs." Many victims frustrated by the sluggishness of law enforcement in cyberspace have resorted to taking matters into their own hands, engaging in retaliatory actions against those responsible for data theft and disrupting network operations.

The discussions surrounding limited immunity for hack-backs often overlook broader considerations of global justice and moral justifications for implementing "active defense policies." Cybersecurity policies typically strike a delicate balance between deterrence and two distinct interpretations of morality and the pursuit of a good life: fairness or welfare. This book presents a novel moral framework for cyber security policies: capability theory, primarily developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. When properly formulated, a capability-based defense of retaliatory hack-backs can effectively mitigate attribution and cyber-escalation risks, deter unethical behavior by casual computer users, disingenuous security experts, large technology companies, criminals, and rogue governments, and address demands for more retributive and distributive justice in the interconnected world.

This book holds appeal to legal theorists, political philosophers, social activists, investors, international relations scholars, and members of the tech community. Its insights and arguments will contribute to shaping the discourse on cyber security and its implications for the future of global governance.

Weight: 611g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789811981319
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023