12 Computer intruders might divert funds from bank computers, or corrupt data in bank databases, causing disruption or panic as banks need to shut down to address their problems. 13 Computer intruders might steal and disclose confidential personal, medical, or financial information, as a tool of blackmail, extortion, or to cause widespread social disruption or embarrassment. 15 A nation's command and control infrastructure could be disrupted, with individual military units unable to communicate with each other, or with a central command. Stock or commodity exchanges, electric power grids and municipal traffic control systems, and, as is frequently suggested, air traffic control or navigation systems could be manipulated or disrupted, with accompanying economic or societal disruption, physical destruction, or loss of life. 16 International Law The Law of Nations Law attempts to govern war, as it does most human endeavors.
International law governs interaction among nations.
Customary law results from the general and consistent practice of states' opinio juris, or with the understanding that the practice is required by law, not just expedience. Customary law may develop from understandings reflected in treaties or other agreements, even if they have not been ratified, declarations or votes of international bodies such as the General Assembly of the United Nations, or the statements and actions of governments and their officials. There is no universally accepted way to determine whether a customary international legal norm has been established. To a great extent, customary international law must be like obscenity to the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart-something we know when we see it. 20 Examples of customary law include the traditional protected status of diplomats and the historical three-nautical mile claim to coastal territorial waters.