State Sovereignty and Self-Defense in Cyberspace: A Normative Framework for Balancing Legal Rights

Today's threats recognize no national boundaries, are connected, and must be addressed at the global and regional as well as the national levels. When warranted, [the United States] will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. All states possess an inherent right to self-defense . . . . [We recognize] that hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners . . . America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks.

Now, we know hackers steal people's identities and infiltrate private emails. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.