The Circle of HOPE (2018): "Four Arguments on Why State Hacking is Bad" (Download)
Sunday, July 22, 2018: 5:00 pm (Booth): While state hacking is a powerful weapon for authoritarian regimes, it has an erosive effect on democratic states. Hacking is advantageous for authoritarian governments that need to retain domestic control, monitor and disturb dissent, attack aggressors, and project force internationally. State hacking is bad because it is deleterious to the legitimacy of the democratic state, the legal system, "ethical" capitalism, and the democratic process itself. In this talk, the argument is presented that state hacking is bad for democratic elections, the integrity of the security services, transparency in government, privacy for the individual, the separation of public and private militaries, the judicial system, and the development of ethical cybersecurity practices. Such hacking is a short circuit in the rule of law and undermines the machinery of democracy. State hacking is bad because it provides unparalleled advantage to rulemakers while delegitimizing the citizen led government.