CHACR COMMENTARY // OCTOBER 2024
BY: Andrew Simms, Editor, CHACR in conversation with the IT Army of Ukraine
IS THERE A NEED TO DEBUG CYBER WARFARE’S CODE OF CONDUCT?
A
LL is – categorically – ‘not’ fair in love and cyber warfare, insists the International Committee of the Red Cross.
However, civilians, rather than those in uniform, were the primary audience for the International Committee of the Red Cross’ proclamation.
Responding to the proliferation in ‘virtual’ battles being fought as part of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Geneva-based humanitarian champion last year restated the legal obligations that apply to those engaging in armed conflicts “through digital means”.
On publishing its list of eight rules, the organisation – a threetime Nobel Prize laureate – cited concerns about the phenomenon of ‘hacktivists’ joining patriotic cyber-gangs on the grounds that they cause harm to civilian populations, either through direct targeting or incidental damage; and that they risk exposing themselves, and people close to them, to military operations.
For a British Army on a mission to accelerate modernisation, the reminder of the rules of engagement – which highlighted the legitimacy of military computerised capabilities as targets – aptly underlined (as flagged in the latest edition of The British Army Review) that the Service’s battlefield toolbox must include the means to defend its cyber systems and attack those of its enemies.
Among the groups blurring the boundaries between civilians and combatants is the IT Army of Ukraine – a voluntary unit borne from a call-to-arms from Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, for hackers to take aim at Russian cyberspace.
“FOR A BRITISH ARMY ON A MISSION TO ACCELERATE MODERNISATION, THE REMINDER OF THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT APTLY UNDERLINED THAT THE SERVICE’S BATTLEFIELD TOOLBOX MUST INCLUDE THE MEANS TO DEFEND ITS CYBER SYSTEMS AND ATTACK THOSE OF ITS ENEMIES”
1 // CYBER WARFARE // CHACR
Comprising tens of thousands of anonymous, geographically dispersed cyber operators, the IT Army has inflicted “hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars” worth of losses on the Russian economy. In conversation with the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, an official spokesperson for the group described the Red Cross’ guidelines for cyber warfare as “commendable” but countered that they “gloss over the gritty realities of warfare”. The words that follow are those of our source, who is a member of the IT Army’s executive team, which consists of fewer than 100 individuals. “These rules are an extension of the traditional principles of warfare, aiming to mitigate its impact on civilian populations.