Article

The Tallin Manual and international cyber security law

Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg

• Yearbook of international humanitarian law, Vol. 15, 2012, p. 3-18

English

Bibliographie : p. 17-18

In 2009, the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Cen-tre of Excellence (CCD COE) in Tallinn, Estonia, es-tablished an "International Group of Experts" to con-duct the first comprehensive examination of the inter-national law governing cyber warfare. The group con-sisted of twenty international law scholars and practi-tioners, including senior military officers responsible for legal advice on cyber operations. The resulting product of the three-year process was the "Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare." This piece is a critical assessment of the Tallinn Manual. As the Tallinn Manual’s focus is on public international law, and therefore inter-State rela-tions, it does not accurately respect the realities of cyberspace. This is especially so in light of its almost exclusive analysis of the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello. For the average person, cybercrime is of far greater concern than the ‘high politics’ of international relations. Moreover, the economic benefits derived from digital information and communications infra-structure are growing at an unparalleled rate. Despite these realities, recent events such as the Stuxnet inci-dent illustrate the importance of the security dimen-sion that underlies the Tallinn Manual.

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• Yearbook of international humanitarian law
• Yearbook of international humanitarian law [Vol. 15, 2012]