There is no clear line when it comes to online attacks in a conflict, but in the case of a land war, the critical national infrastructure will be a target.
Speaking to IT Security Guru, Tom Cross, director of security research at Lancope, said that “cyber war” will fit most contexts, but it is another theatre and Governments are learning from this. “Estonia suffered as its infrastructure was very modern and the attack had a greater impact on its ability to function,” he said. “The US Government is not so modern and can react as it has fewer services online and as more are reliant on the web, the impact of being down becomes more significant.”
Cross commented that there had not been so much denial-of-service (DoS) attack activity in the Ukraine situation, but this was more limited in scope. “There is no clear line, with a nation state you have to be aware of what you are doing,” he said. “The lines are not black and white, they are grey. The US Government is much more targeted, but the interest is in getting data that they seek. Wherever you are, people are interested in getting access to what you want to keep private.”
Cross mentioned that there are rules for warfare and consequences, but cyber espionage is seen as “fair game” as countries are spying on each other. “It was the case in the 1950s that the spy went to the victim, but now you connect online and you can get to your victim from the comfort of your own living room.”
He concluded by saying that there is an ethical framework for war, but nothing for espionage, and the world is not used to living in this situation and it is hard to function in this manner.
