By Narinder Purba posted 24 Jun 2016 - 03:48PM
The seriousness of cyberattacks is such that it
should be included in international humanitarian law, a new report from the
Global Commission on Internet Governance has said.
The paper, titled One Internet, said that the most dangerous
cyberweapons that can be employed by a state need to be better understood and
used in full consideration of, for example, the Geneva Conventions.
According to the authors of the report, such is the
interconnectedness of “devices and economies” that the potential fallout from a
government-initiated cyberattack could be huge.
“Governments should employ cyberweapons only as a
last resort, and then only after having first applied the legal principles of
necessity, proportionality and of minimizing the risks of collateral damage,”
the report outlined.
The paper was clear in its recommendation that
countries work more closely with one another in tackling cyberattacks, which
show contempt for “border and geopolitical jurisdictions”.
As the threat is global in nature, nations will
benefit from the sharing of information, which is easier said than done as
“there is currently a trust deficit between the world’s major cyberpowers”.
Nevertheless, this collaborative and transparent
approach would help speed up response times to major attacks, and ensure that
the right organizations are tasked with resolving incidents in as efficient a
manner as possible.
The commission said: “States should undertake
confidence-building exercises in order to help foster trust between nations.”
The Geneva Conventions are described by the
International Committee of the Red Cross as being at the centre of
international humanitarian law.
Collectively it “regulates the conduct of armed
conflict and seeks to limit its effects”, especially on those who are not
directly involved in hostilities.
A digital dimension to this reflects the changing
nature of warfare, highlighting how devastating cyberattacks can be on
individuals and nations.
