The Legal Regulation of Cyber Attacks

The Legal Regulation of Cyber Attacks provides a thorough analysis of the legal regulation of attacks against information systems in European, international, and comparative law contexts. Modern societies are to a great extent dependent on computers and information systems, but there is a negative side to the use of information and communication technology – the rise of a new kind of criminality not traditionally addressed by the law. Technological developments and the changing nature of cybercrime force legislators to deal with new objects and redefine concepts. Taking into account legislative and case law developments, this book covers legal issues not only pertaining to attacks arising in criminal law but also crucial problems such as the conflict of cybercrime investigation and prosecution with fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression.

What’s in this book:

The authors’ in-depth response to doctrinal and practical issues related to the application of cybercrime regulation includes elements, issues, and aspects such as the following:

• legal harmonization of cybercrime law
• jurisdictional issues in the investigation and prosecution of cybercrime;
• prevention of cyber attacks;
• personal data and privacy implications;
• hacking of cell phones;
• enforcement and forensics in cybercrime law;
• states and legal persons as perpetrators of cybercrime;
• European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection;
• Cybercrime Convention of 2001;
• Directive 2013/40/EU;
• identity theft;
• the Snowden revelations and their lessons;
• principles, problems, and shortcomings of digital evidence;
• legal status of the IP address;
• the security and data breach notification as a compliance and transparency tool;
• profile and motivation of perpetrators of cyber attacks;
• cybercrime as a parallel economy; and
• use of crypto-currency as a means for blackmail operations.

Technical definitions, case law, and analysis of both substantive law and procedural law contribute to a comprehensive understanding of cybercrime regulation and its current evolution in practice. Furthermore, this book evaluates the complex legal framework and the practical and legal challenges of the regulation of attacks against information systems.

How this will help you:

Being the first book to deal with the criminalization of cyber attacks, this book clarifies the nature of the conflict of cybercrime investigation and prosecution with fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Addressing a topic of growing importance in unprecedented detail, this book is an extremely useful reference tool for professionals and authorities dealing with cybercrime, including lawyers, judges, academics, security professionals, information technology experts, and law enforcement agencies.