Call for Papers: Cyber Warfare and Nation States

all for Papers Cyber Warfare and Nation States: Recent developments in offensive and defensive capabilities to advance national interests 23 September 2010, Canberra, Australia Call for presentations open until 10 May 2010. Download Call for Presentations. “The availability of cyber attack technologies for national purposes greatly expands the range of options available to U.S. policy makers as well as to policy makers of other nations”, Admiral (ret.) William A. Owens, former Vic Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former CEO of Nortel, and chair for the report committee - Technology, Policy, Law and Ethics regarding U.S. acquisition and use of cyberattack capabilities (2009). Cyber capabilities to support national objectives are no different from other land, air, sea and space capabilities. They are a tool which can expand the range of options available to governments. However unlike other capabilities, the policy and legal framework controlling their development and use is in its infancy. The debate on these capabilities is currently conducted behind closed doors which impedes the understanding of their implications, and does not provide the rigour required to develop robust policy, guidance and doctrine. Historically, academics, researchers and others in the non-government sector have led the development of strategy and doctrine for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. This discussion was carried out in the open. Unclassified discussion built consensus on the strategic use of these technologies, as well as leading to international approaches to counter their proliferation. Given the recent opening of Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) within the Defence Signals Directorate which “provides Defence with a cyber warfare capability”[1] and that the Defence White Paper states that “the ADF of 2030 will need to be a more potent force in … cyber warfare”,[2] it is timely to consider the policy framework in which cyber warfare capabilities function. This conference will start this discussion and focus on questions including: * What are the foreign perspectives on cyberattack? * How can cyber capabilities (defensive and offensive) be used as an instrument of national policy? * What would cyberconflicts look like? * What are the lessons to be learned in developing strategy from the nuclear, chemical and biological weapon experience? * How does the Law of Armed Conflict and International Law apply to cyberattacks? * What could be the rules of engagement for cyber attacks? * How do cyber capabilities be used in a graduated fashion? * How could cyber capabilities be used to support national missions, including intelligence? * What are the escalation dynamics of cyberconflicts? The conference will consist of plenary sessions and discussions. A restricted workshop will be held on the afternoon of 22 September 2010. The location is Rydges Lakeside, Canberra, Australia. Speakers are required to register for the conference but are entitled to the recovery price rate for the conference (ie. Aus$350). The Conference supporting organisations are: * Queensland University of Technology * University of Melbourne * Macquarie University * UNSW@ADFA * ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security * Australian Security Research Centre