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Conducting Cybersecurity Research Legally and Ethically

Abstract: 
Examining the legal obstacles to conducting cybersecurity research, this paper aims to clarify several issues by explaining connections to specific U.S. law and offering guidelines by which one can evaluate ethical issues that arise in the area of cybersecurity research. The author makes a point to begin by explaining the idea that the primary legal obstacles to conducting cybersecurity related research are not only outright prohibitions but rather the issues surrounding determining what might be best practices for ethically regulating a given research project. Overall, the paper attempts to make clearer the interests that the laws relevant to cybersecurity are supposed to be protecting. The paper concludes with a hope that the information provided will help cybersecurity researchers make decisions about their actions in light of all of the broader ethical considerations that have been mentioned. A specific, relevant framework for considering these ethical issues is considered by the author to be crucial to develop.
Author: 
Aaron J. Burstein
Institution: 
University of California, Berkeley (School of Law)
Year: 
2008
Domains-Issue Area: 
Region(s): 
Industry Focus: 
Information & Telecommunication
Internet & Cyberspace
Legal & Financial
Datatype(s): 
Policies
Theory/Definition