A doctrinal approach to the application of notions of IHL to cyber operations during armed conflict: &quot;How do key notions of IHL apply to cyber operations during armed conflict?&quot;

The utilization of cyber operations in armed conflict is a fact of life and on top of the agenda worldwide. When Russia began a large-scale military invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, many anticipated the kinetic action to be accompanied by comprehensive cyber operations. So far, cyber operations in Ukraine appear to be somewhat subdued. These cyber operations are covered by international humanitarian law (IHL) to the extent that they have a connection to armed conflict. The cyber operations that have been undertaken so far have been on the borderline of some of the most debated issues in the law regarding cyber operations. Although there is consensus that IHL applies to cyber operations during armed conflict, there is still discussion on how notions of IHL apply to cyber operations during armed conflict. Issues about the notion of “attack” and the notion of “object” are widely debated among scholars, but there is still no common understanding of the concepts. Several scholars...Show moreThe utilization of cyber operations in armed conflict is a fact of life and on top of the agenda worldwide. When Russia began a large-scale military invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, many anticipated the kinetic action to be accompanied by comprehensive cyber operations. So far, cyber operations in Ukraine appear to be somewhat subdued. These cyber operations are covered by international humanitarian law (IHL) to the extent that they have a connection to armed conflict. The cyber operations that have been undertaken so far have been on the borderline of some of the most debated issues in the law regarding cyber operations. Although there is consensus that IHL applies to cyber operations during armed conflict, there is still discussion on how notions of IHL apply to cyber operations during armed conflict. Issues about the notion of “attack” and the notion of “object” are widely debated among scholars, but there is still no common understanding of the concepts. Several scholars have provided different approaches on how to apply both notions. However, the shortcoming of these different approaches is that they discuss the notions in theory, but don’t apply them in practice. This thesis wants to fill the gap of the how-question in practice by applying the key notions of “attack” and “object” of IHL to a cyber operation during an armed conflict that has already happened: the Russian-Georgian cyber conflict. This reveals that a combination of the approaches for both notions will provide the best outcome.Show less

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A doctrinal approach to the application of notions of IHL to cyber operations during armed conflict: "How do key notions of IHL apply to cyber operations during armed conflict?"