Legal Issues in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity professionals must have the same skills as hackers, especially black hat hackers, in order to protect against attacks. One difference between a hacker and a cybersecurity professional is that the cybersecurity professional must work within legal boundaries.

Personal Legal Issues

You do not even have to be an employee to be subject to cybersecurity laws. In your private life, you may have the opportunity and skills to hack another person’s computer or network. There is an old saying, “Just because you can does not mean you should.” Keep this in mind. Most hackers leave tracks, whether they know it or not, and these tracks can be followed back to the hacker.

Cybersecurity professionals develop many skills which can be used for good or evil. Those who use their skills within the legal system, to protect infrastructure, networks, and privacy are always in high demand.

Corporate Legal Issues

Most countries have some cybersecurity laws in place. They may have to do with critical infrastructure, networks, and corporate and individual privacy. Businesses are required to abide by these laws.

In some cases, if you break cybersecurity laws while doing your job, it is the company that may be punished and you could lose your job. In other cases, you could be prosecuted, fined, and possibly sentenced.

In general, if you are confused about whether an action or behavior might be illegal, assume that it is illegal and do not do it. Your company may have a legal department or someone in the human resources department who can answer your questions before you do something illegal.

International Law and Cybersecurity

The area of cybersecurity law is much newer than cybersecurity itself. As mentioned before, most countries have some laws in place, and there will be more laws to come.

International cybersecurity law is still quite new. The International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) is the first, international public-private partnership that is focused on cyber threats. IMPACT is a global partnership of world governments, industries, and academia dedicated to improving global capabilities when dealing with cyber threats. The figure shows the website for IMPACT.