Is cyberwar lawful?

Source: A. M. Rutkowski, Network World.

Is cyberwar lawful?

The answer is probably not — at least an unprovoked attack — based on extensive new legal research appearing in an upcoming issue of the British journal INFO.

The research describes a 150-year-old series of Geneva Conventions relating to cyberwar. However, a precise answer to the question is impossible because no one has actually defined the term “cyberwar” and reaching broad agreement on a definition seems problematic at best.

The topic of cyberwar is much discussed worldwide. What is not well known, however, is that two key provisions were added in the 1990s to an international treaty signed and ratified by almost every country that constrain the conditions under which a nation could adversely affect the networks, services and equipment in another nation.

While no one may be able to define “cyberwar,” it appears that nations want to avoid any approximation by cooperating to diminish threats, risks and vulnerabilities through a broad array of different forums and means.

So it appears that cyberspace is emulating the real world, and countries are finding common ground in taking steps to implement existing treaty provisions and avoiding the escalation of cyber conflict even if they cannot define cyberwar.