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Abstract: In recent years, the disclosure of secrets through cyber infiltration of America's largest intelligence organization, the National Security Agency (NSA), has raised the fears of veteran intelligence officials and close allies around the globe that no institution or government is secure from those who roam the discrete halls of cyberspace. Although espionage has existed since before the days of the Greek mythological Trojan horse, no one could have envisioned the sophisticated use of espionage in today's networked world. Espionage has been used for political and military intelligence and economic and industrial pursuits with a lack of understanding of all of the impacts on our daily lives. In the context of foreign or international law, espionage is sometimes characterized as lawless, without controls or regulation, and it rarely distinguishes between economic and security based cyber espionage. Through empirical analysis this paper explores the treatment of espionage under various legal systems including those countries and regions considered the most advanced at cyber espionage, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. To provide greater insight into the different perspectives of cyber espionage from a legal standpoint, this paper distinguishes the law of national intelligence collection from the criminal laws of economic/industrial espionage on the domestic front. The purpose of this research is to analyze the development of cyber espionage as a preferred means of contemporary warfare, as well as a tool for economic and political intelligence. The paper concludes by responding to the challenges faced by nation-states in the development of an effective legal system governing espionage at the domestic and international level.
Keywords: cyber espionage, cybercrime, foreign surveillance, national intelligence, economic espionage, cyber warfare
1.Introduction
Although many countries all over the world are committing cyber espionage, the United States, Russia, and China represent the most sophisticated cyber spying capabilities (Senate, 2014). A 2011 Report by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) suggested that the rise of cyberspace as a platform for innovation and storage of trade secrets was greatly enhancing the risks faced by American firms. The report also found that the United States remains the prime target for foreign economic collection and industrial espionage by virtue of its global technological leadership and innovation (ONCIX, 2011).
Cyber espionage has also become...