National Cyber Reserve Forces: Assessing the Options

In the harsh reality of today’s international environment, we must enhance Australia’s defensive capabilities. And we must do so quickly. One way to rapidly increase our defensive capabilities in the Cyber domain is to learn from international experience in establishing some form of national cyber reserve force. This webinar will present the findings from research by Professor Dan Svantesson and Associate Professor Samuli Haataja on Cyber volunteer capabilities. The project, including overseas field work, has been funded by the Department of Defence’s Strategic Policy Grants Program. The webinar will highlight developments from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine and the US, and demonstrate that volunteers can play an important role across a range of topics including cyber security, information conflict, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), espionage, and proactive cyber operations. Proposals will be presented for what Australia may learn from what already is happing overseas.  The presentation will run for 45 minutes followed by 30 minutes allocated for questions and discussions. Professor Greg Austin will chair the event.

Professor Dan Svantesson is a Senior Fellow with the Social Cyber Institute, and a Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute. He specialises in international aspects of the IT society, a field within which he is has published a range of books and articles, presenting in Australia, Asia, North America and Europe. Dan is a Professor at the Faculty of Law in Bond University, and an Associated Researcher at the Swedish Law & Informatics Research institute, Stockholm University. Professor Svantesson held an ARC Future Fellowship (2012-2016) and was the inaugural Managing Editor for International Data Privacy Law, published by Oxford University Press. He is a Member of the Editorial Boards for several journals, including the Commonwealth Cybercrime Journal, the International Cybersecurity Law Review, the International Journal of Law and Information Technology, the Commonwealth Law Bulletin, the International Review of Law Computers and Technology, the Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology and the Computer Law and Security Review. Professor Svantesson has contributed to a commissioned report by international organisations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, OECD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network.

Dr Samuli Haataja is an Associate Professor at Griffith Law School, Griffith University. His research explores international law and cyber security, with a focus on state-sponsored cyber operations under public international law. His book Cyber Attacks and International Law on the Use of Force: The Turn to Information Ethics was published by Routledge in 2019, and he has published in various international law and technology journals.