Our guest commentator for episode 49 of the Steptoe Cyberlaw podcast is Juan Zarate, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the senior national security analyst for CBS News, a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Law School, and chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network.  Before joining CSIS, Juan was the first ever assistant secretary of the treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes.

We inaugurate a new headline news feature, “News or Snooze.”  Some highlights:

In the interview, Juan Zarate and Steptoe’s own Meredith Rathbone lead us through a bracing discussion of US sanctions on North Korea for the Sony attack.  Bottom line:  the Treasury sanctions announced so far are unlikely to have much impact, but they do open the door to future approaches that could.  Juan endorses tougher OFAC sanctions for the beneficiaries of cyberespionage and international sanctions for attacks on banks.  He even has a kind word for letters of marque that would give the private sector more authority to pursue cyberattackers.  By the end, he’s demonstrated anew why we call him the Lord Byron of cyberpolicy.

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Download the forty-ninth episode (mp3).

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The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of the firm.