Optimizing Lawful Responses to Cyber Intrusions

Abstract : Cyber intrusions are rarely met with the most effective possible response, less for technical than legal reasons. Different rogue actors (terrorists, criminals, spies, etc.) are governed by overlapping but separate domestic and international legal regimes. Each of these regimes has unique limitations, but also offers unique opportunities for evidence collection, intelligence gathering, and use of force. We propose a framework which automates the mechanistic aspects of the decision-making process, with human intervention for only those legal judgments that necessitate human judgment and official responsibility. The basis of our framework is a pair of decision trees, one executable solely by the threatened system, the other by the attorneys responsible for the lawful pursuit of the intruders. These parallel decision trees are interconnected, and contain pre-distilled legal resources for making an objective, principled determination at each decision point. We offer an open-source development strategy for realizing and maintaining the framework.