01288nas a2200121   4500000000100000008004100001260001500042100001900057245006500076856018800141520082300329022001401152       2020                            d  c2020-05-191 aJames Pattison00aFrom defence to offence: The ethics of private cybersecurity  uhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/from-defence-to-offence-the-ethics-of-private-cybersecurity/4DE2DD7F39CC66E3703943D4D65999FF3 aThe cyber realm is increasingly vital to national security, but much of cybersecurity is provided privately. Private firms provide a range of roles, from purely defensive operations to more controversial ones, such as active-cyber defense (ACD) and ‘hacking back’. As with the outsourcing of traditional military and security services to private military and security companies (PMSCs), the reliance on private firms raises the ethical question of to what extent the private sector should be involved in providing security services. In this article, I consider this question. I argue that a moderately restrictive approach should be adopted, which holds that private firms can justifiably launch some cybersecurity services – defensive measures – but are not permitted to perform others – offensive measures.  a2057-5637