Moreover, IHL rules prohibit rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the population, such as drinking water installations. The principle of distinction, described by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as one of the ‘cardinal principles’ that constitute the ‘fabric of humanitarian law’, prohibits attacks against civilian objects. However, IHL imposes clear limits on such operations if directed against, or expected to incidentally damage, civilian objects. Such incidents would severely compound the vulnerability of the civilian population in conflict-affected regions. In times of armed conflict, belligerents might be tempted to hack into the power grid in enemy territory, switch off electricity in populated areas, and make every effort to avoid it being brought back on swiftly, whether to weaken the adversary or undermine the morale of the population. What could modern conflicts look like? The civilian population could be deprived of essential services, such as electricityĬyber operations against the power grid are not without precedent. So instead of risking a pedantic debate, let’s imagine for a moment that IHL didn’t apply to cyber operations during armed conflicts. However, technical legal questions may cloud the very real benefits in terms of humanitarian protection offered by the application of this body of law to cyber operations. Over the past 20 years, the ICRC position has remained unchanged: for us, there is no doubt that international humanitarian law (IHL, also called the ‘law of war’) applies to, and therefore limits, cyber operations during armed conflict (see e.g. Still, there is a debate – most prominently in the framework of the two multilateral processes under the auspices of the United Nations – as to how the existing international legal frameworks apply to such conduct in cyberspace. In today’s digitalizing world, States and non-State armed groups increasingly employ cyber capabilities in their military operations, and their use is likely to grow.
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