The Washington Foreign Law Society
presents
Cyber Norms, Law and Accountability: Roads to Progress?

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

From 10:00 to 11:00 AM Eastern Time

– This webinar is jointly organized with the Stimson Center – 

Diverse international events are challenging the sanctity of international law and norms, and cyberspace is no exception. Cybercrime has increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic and the digital dimensions of the conflict in Ukraine present new questions about the applicability of international law and norms, with some citing explicit violations of norms/law. In this context of upheaval and change, what impact can discussions around cyber norms, law and accountability have in today's world? Clearly, some must have hope as work is going forward on many fronts. There are efforts: in the UN to support the implementation of existing cyber norms and law, and to develop a new cybercrime treaty; internationally, to support a cooperative anti-ransomware initiative; and across borders, to cooperate in taking down cybercriminals. Join the Stimson Center and the Washington Foreign Law Society as we discuss some of these international efforts with Michele Markoff, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cyber Security in the new State Department Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, and Katitza Rodriguez, Policy Director for Global Privacy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Featured Speakers:

-- Michele G. Markoff, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cyberspace Security, US Department of State.

-- Katitza Rodriguez, Policy Director for Global Privacy, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The program will be moderated by Allison Pytlak, Stimson Center Nonresident Fellow. Michael Teodori, President of the Washington Foreign Law Society, will host the session.

Michele G. Markoff is Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cyberspace Security in the State Department's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Since 1998, Ms. Markoff has been the senior State Department subject matter expert overseeing the development and implementation of foreign policy initiatives on cyberspace issues.  She coordinates U.S. policy on the spectrum of cyber-related issues across the Department and develops diplomatic strategies to encourage states to join the United States in taking steps to protect their critical networks and to cooperate internationally to enhance and preserve global cyber stability.

Ms. Markoff implements those strategies through negotiations in a wide variety of venues.  Ms. Markoff has been the U.S. lead at the UN for six successive Groups of Governmental Experts (GGE) in 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2019, and the 2019-2021 Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG).  The GGE and OEWG reached consensus on two reports in 2021 designed to further understanding and implementation by all states of the framework for responsible state behavior in cyberspace.  In September 2019, Ms. Markoff led diplomatic efforts to engage 27 states to sign a Joint Statement on Advancing Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace which included a commitment to “work together on a voluntary basis to hold states accountable when they act contrary to this framework.”  Ms. Markoff is also the architect of two agreements on cyber confidence-building measures in the Organization of Security Cooperation in Europe, and a similar initiative in the ASEAN Regional Forum.  In June 2013, Ms. Markoff’s initiatives led to the successful completion of the first-ever bilateral agreement on confidence-building in cyberspace between the United States and the Russian Federation.

An expert in Russian and Chinese military affairs, Ms. Markoff spent the first half of her career in strategic nuclear arms control positions, including State Department Advisor and then Executive Secretary to the START I Talks, and Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency’s Policy Planning Group. Ms. Markoff has a B.A. in International Relations from Reed College, an M.A. in International Relations and an M.Phil. in Political Science from Yale University, and a M.Sc. in National Security Strategy from the National War College of the United States. She attended high school in the former Soviet Union and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Katitza Rodriguez (@txitua) is Policy Director for Global Privacy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation since 2010. She was an advisor to the UN Internet Governance Forum (2009-2010). In 2018, CNET named Ms. Rodriguez one of the 20 most influential Latinos in technology in the United States. Before joining EFF, Ms. Rodriguez was director of the international privacy program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington D.C., where amongst other things, she worked on The Privacy and Human Rights Report, an international survey of privacy laws and developments in more than 6o countries. Ms. Rodriguez was the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for which she served as the civil society liaison from 2008 to March 2010. Ms. Rodriguez was a co-founder of the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for which she served as the civil society liaison from 2008 to March 2010.

Allison Pytlak is Nonresident Fellow at the Stimson Center and Manager of the Disarmament Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She contributes to the organization’s monitoring and analysis of UN disarmament processes including those on cyber security, as well as to its research and advocacy to advance feminist perspectives on international security issues. Ms. Pytlak was closely involved in efforts to ensure civil society engagement in the UN’s first cyber OEWG and participated in all of its substantive meetings. She has worked within international civil society movements for more than a decade. Ms. Pytlak holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Toronto and an MA, also in International Relations, from the City University of New York. Her graduate research focused on interstate cyber conflict. Her subsequent research and advocacy have focused on the role of stakeholders, the militarization of cyberspace, cyber repression and gender dimensions of cyber security. She is an expert with the Forum on the Arms Trade and a 2018 UN Women Metro-NY “Champion of Change.” Also, Ms. Pytlak was closely involved in efforts to ensure civil society engagement in the UN’s first cyber OEWG and participated in all of its substantive meetings and actively contributes to the work of the new 2021-25 OEWG.

Michael Teodori is the President of the Washington Foreign Law Society. He is also a US Policy and Advocacy Specialist at Eni SpA, Italy’s largest energy company, where he focuses on energy policy and congressional affairs. Prior to joining Eni, Mr. Teodori was a Congressional Liaison Officer at the US politics and Congressional affairs office of the Italian Embassy in Washington DC, where he worked to advance relations between the Italy and the US. Mr. Teodori was also a Schuman trainee at the European Parliament, with experience at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, DC as well as at the European Parliament Legal Service in Brussels. Mr. Teodori holds a law degree from the University of Pavia (Italy) and a joint M.A. in transatlantic affairs from the College of Europe (Bruges) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (Medford, MA).

Material discussed during the event:

-- Opening Stages in UN Cybercrime Treaty Talks Reflect Human Rights Risks: https://www.justsecurity.org/81105/opening-stages-in-un-cybercrime-treaty-talks-reflect-human-rights-risks/

-- UN Committee To Begin Negotiating New Cybercrime Treaty Amid Disagreement Among States Over Its Scope: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/un-committee-begin-negotiating-new-cybercrime-treaty-amid-disagreement-among

-- Negotiations Over UN Cybercrime Treaty Under Way in New York, With EFF and Partners Urging Focus on Human Rights: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/negotiations-over-international-police-powers-agreement-must-keep-human-rights

-- On New Cross-Border Cybercrime Policing Protocol, a Call for Caution: https://www.justsecurity.org/81502/on-new-cross-border-cybercrime-policing-protocol-a-call-for-caution/

-- U.S. allies blame Russia for a cyberattack early in its Ukraine invasion: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/11/us-allies-blame-russia-cyberattack-early-its-ukraine-invasion/