Are there times when it is acceptable for the U.S. to attack the communications infrastructure of another country? When the U.S. flies a military plane into airspace of another country, the planes are usually clearly marked.  So should the U.S. take the same approach in cyberspace and embed code telling everyone "This is an official U.S. cyberattack?

Herbert Lin, chief scientist for the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board explored those questions in a colloquium  he led on the University of New Mexico Campus in April.  The title of his talk was "Understanding Cyberattack as an Instrument of U.S. Policy."

Lin was the director of a National Academy study on "Technology, Policy Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities."

Lin is introduced by Andrew Ross, director of the UNM Center for Science, Technology and Policy.

Hear Lin's talk:

Following Lin's talk Stephanie Forrest, chair of the UNM Computer Sciences Department moderated a panel discussion that included Andrew Ross, director of the UNM Center for Science, Technology and Policy, Daniel Dennett, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University and Miller Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute; David Ackley, associate professor in the UNM Department of Computer Science and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Robert Hutchinson, Sr. Manager for Computer Science and Information Operations at Sandia National Laboratories, and Herbert Lin, chief scientist for the National Research Council's Computer Sciences and Telecommunications Board.

Listen to the panel discussion:

Media con­tact: Karen Went­worth (505) 277‑5627; kwent2@unm.edu