Cyber National Security: Navigating Gray Zone Challenges In and Through Cyberspace

Abstract

This chapter, written for the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare's book on Complex Battlespaces, addresses a sampling of the myriad complex legal questions implicated by cyber operations conducted outside the context of armed hostilities. In such a rapidly evolving environment, the development of legal and policy parameters for governing state behavior in cyberspace—domestically and internationally—have failed to keep pace with the threat. Legal advisors charged with reviewing and advising on the legality of cyber operations are continuously called on to address difficult issues of first impression. This chapter identifies and considers some of the more challenging domestic and international legal issues raised by the conduct of cyber operations in the gray zone between peace and war. The chapter offers a brief description of the gray-zone concept, followed by a description of the cyberspace domain and the general nature of cyber operations before turning to a selective review of the domestic U.S. and international law challenges to conducting gray-zone cyber operations.

Keywords: cyber, cyberspace, cyber operations, gray zone, armed conflict, law, domestic law, international law