ABSTRACT
Amidst a continuing onslaught of "viruses", "worms", and other forms of "malware", computer security experts and legal scholars have begun to rethink the traditional bifurcated approach to network security, which has relied predominately on private investment in prevention and public investment in prosecution. Symbiot has claimed to offer the first commercially available technology specifically designed to permit its users to "strike back" against network intruders. As such, it provides a particularly useful case study through which to examine both the possibilities and problems of digital counterstrike technologies. Experts in computer security have focused principally on the practical risks associated with the use of so-called "hack back" technologies. Other critics of digital counterstrike technologies have argued that, even if such attacks could be conducted with technical precision, they are likely to run afoul of existing laws prohibiting unauthorized access to computers.
