Current Funded Projects

US National Science Foundation
Funded project on outer space cybersecurity (2022-2024)

Our Events

7-8 March 2024
Cal Poly
Organizing an expert workshop on imagining novel scenarios for outer space cybersecurity

30-31 March 2023
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Organizing an expert workshop on outer space cybersecurity

18-19 June 2018
University of Iceland
Co-organizing workshop on future Arctic conflicts, incl. technological factors

1-3 August 2017
University of Iceland
Co-organizing workshop on the ethics of cyberwarfare and artificial intelligence

26-28 June 2017
International Association for Computing and Philosophy
Co-organizing IACAP's annual conference at Stanford

17-18 Oct 2016
United States Naval Academy
Conference: Developing a Normative Framework for Cyberwarfare

11 Nov 2015
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) side-event panel on the drivers for the weaponization of increasingly autonomous technologies, at UN Geneva

9-10 Nov 2015
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Expert meeting on AI, cyber, and autonomous cyberweapons, at UN Geneva

9 October 2015
UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
First Committee side-event on cyber and other autonomous weapons, at UN NYC.

21-22 May 2014
International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva headquarters
Workshop on cyberwarfare, ethics, and international humanitarian law

Reports

17 June 2024
Outer Space Cyberattacks: Generating Novel Scenarios to Avoid Surprise
A report funded by the US National Science Foundation
Announcement here.

26 September 2016
Ethics of Hacking Back: 6 Arguments from Armed Conflict to Zombies
A report funded by the US National Science Foundation

Journal Papers and Contributed Articles

3 July 2024
The Conversation
To Guard Against Cyberattacks in Space, Researchers Ask ‘What If?'

25 June 2024
Via Satellite
10 Takeaways From Cal Poly’s Space Cyberattacks Report

12 July 2018
World Economic Forum
Artificial Islands, Robo-Ships, Sleepless Soldiers. Is This the Future of the Arctic?

26 July 2017
Communications of the ACM
On the Ethics of Cyberwar

17 July 2017
World Economic Forum
Why Cyberattacks Could Be War Crimes

26 September 2016
World Economic Forum
Is It Wrong for Victims of Cyber-Crime to Hack Back?

26 September 2016
Council on Foreign Relations
Hacking Back Is Ethical in the Cyber Frontier

26 September 2016
Quartz
Lessons From Zombie Warfare Can Help Us Beat Hackers At Their Own Game

26 September 2016
Forbes
Forget About Law and Ethics — Is Hacking Back Even Effective?

January 2016
Cybercrime: Current Controversies
Ethical Questions Need to be Answered About Cyberweapons

11 May 2015
Wall Street Journal
Should Washington Allow Companies to Strike Back Against Hackers?

20 April 2015
The Atlantic
Do Killer Robots Violate Human Rights?

16 April 2015
Testimony at Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) at UN Geneva on lethal autononomus weapons systems (LAWS)
The Right to Life and the Martens Clause

26 August 2014
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Cyberwarfare Ethics, or How Facebook Could Accidentally Make Its Engineers Into Targets

11 June 2014
Slate
The Facebook War: Would Taking Down the Social Network Justify a Real-World Attack?

6 January 2014
The Atlantic
Just the Right Amount of Cyber Fear

15 April 2013
The Atlantic
Pain Rays and Robot Swarms: The Radical New War Games the DOD Plays

5 June 2012
The Atlantic
Is It Possible to Wage a Just Cyberwar?

30 April 2012
The Atlantic
"Stand Your Cyberground" Law: A Novel Approach for Digital Security

March 2012
Communications of the ACM (CACM)
War 2.0: Cyberweapons and Ethics

Other Links

23 September 2024
The New Arab
Why Israel's Tech Warfare and Supply Chain Sabotage Set a Worrying Precedent

19 September 2024
Al Jazeera
Lebanon Explosions Raise Alarm About Supply Chain Security, Safety of Tech

10 September 2024
Dark Reading
India Needs Better Cybersecurity for Space, Critical Infrastructure

24 July 2024
Constellations (Kratos)
Space Industry Leverages Tabletop Wargames and ZTA to Tackle Novel Cyber Threats

29 June 2024
Cyber Magazine
Cyberattacks in Space? The “Next Frontier” for Cybersecurity

24 June 2024
Cyber News
Hijacked Spacecraft, Hacked Life Support Systems: the Cyber Risks of Space

20 June 2024
The Supply Chain Report
Cal Poly Report Explores Outer Space as New Cybersecurity Frontier, Introduces ICARUS Matrix

19 June 2024
Industrial Cyber
Cal Poly Report Highlights Outer Space as New Frontier for Cybersecurity Threats; Offers ICARUS Matrix

17 June 2024
Government Technology
What Does the Future of Cybersecurity in Space Look Like?

17 June 2024
Dark Reading
Space: The Final Frontier for Cyberattacks

17 June 2024
CSO magazine
A New Fear for CSOs: The Sky is Falling

21 May 2024
RSA Conference
The Art of Possible: RSAC 2024 Insights from Cryptocurrency to Cybersecurity

3 May 2024
Barracuda Networks
Going to RSA 2024? Here’s What to Look For

3 April 2024
Varonis
Know Before You Go: Your Guide to RSAC 2024

18 August 2023
Science
Cyberattack Shutters Major NSF-Funded Telescopes for More Than 2 Weeks

12 September 2022
Cal Poly
Cal Poly Wins First-Ever Grant on Space Cybersecurity from US National Science Foundation

7 July 2022
United Nations, Office of Disarmament Affairs
Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education: 10th Biennial Report of the Secretary General

2 March 2022
Independent Online (South Africa)
Russia-Ukraine War Faces Devastating Digital Attacks by “Forces” Armed with Viruses and Other Tech Weapons

21 September 2020
Congressional Research Service
Cybercrime and the Law: Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and the 116th Congress

26 January 2019
Station HYPO
Ethical and Moral Issues within Cyber Warfare

17 October 2018
Forbes
We Need to Work Harder to Make Software Engineering More Ethical

2 July 2018
United Nations, Office of Disarmament Affairs
Eighth Biennial Report of the Secretary-General on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education

21 May 2018
Harvard Business Review
Active Defense and "Hacking Back": A Primer

14 July 2017
The Atlantic
When Companies Get Hacked, Should They Be Allowed to Hack Back?

14 June 2017
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Private Sector Cyber Defense: Can Active Measures Help Stabilize Cyberspace?

2 June 2017
Engadget
If Hacking Back Becomes Law, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

31 May 2017
Quartz
Is It Ethical for These Researchers to Pay Hackers for Access to Malware Before It’s Unleashed?

1 November 2016
Agence France-Presse
Hitting Back at Hackers: Debate Swirls on How Far to Go

24 October 2016
RAND Corporation
Report: The Moral Component of Cross-Domain Conflict

17 June 2015
New America Foundation
Cybersecurity Fellows Announced

16 September 2014
io9
10 Horrifying Technologies That Should Never Be Allowed To Exist

13 September 2014
Tech Cocktail
The Current State of CyberWar in the World

19 December 2013
National Research Council
Emerging and Readily Available Technologies and National Security — A Framework for Addressing Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues

November 2013
Homeland Security Today
The Dark Web: The Place Where Digital Evil Lurks

15 October 2013
Cal Poly Public Affairs
Cal Poly Philosophy Professor Receives NSF Grant for Cyberwarfare Project

20 June 2013
Times Union (Albany, NY)
Tech Valley Terror Target

31 May 2013
Los Angeles Times
Some Companies Looking at Retaliating Against Cyber Attackers

26 June 2012
Big Think
The Ethics of War Must Be Engaged, Not Changed

19 June 2012
CSO (Chief Security Officer)
Should Best Cybercrime Defense Include Some Offense?

7 June 2012
Talking Points Memo
UN Tries to Navigate Cold Hard Politics of New Cyber War

7 June 2012
The Jerusalem Post
Cyber Warfare

6 June 2012
Practical Ethics (Univ. of Oxford, UK)
Just War Theory and Cyber Warfare

6 June 2012
Slate
Are There Ever Any "Good Guys" in Cyberwar?

7 May 2012
CSO (Chief Security Officer)
Does "Stand Your Cyberground" Stand a Chance?

04 Apr 2011
Press Release
Ethics Group Joins Military Technology Consortium
Policy issues arising from cyberweapons, robotics, neuroscience, and more

12 Jan 2011
Press Release
US Naval Academy Professor to Discuss War Technologies and Ethics at Cal Poly
Do new technologies lower barriers to waging war? What is the “principle of last resort”?

23 Mar 2009
Press Release
Cal Poly to Host April 10 Talk on Ethics of Cyberweapons
Dr. Neil Rowe to also propose solutions to prevent war crimes arising from cyberattacks

* Invited talks, briefings, and book chapters may not all appear on this page.