Jakarta, IO – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for the first time, issued rules of engagement for civilian hackers involved in conflict.
ICRC legal advisor Dr Tilman Rodenhäuser said the new rules are particularly aimed at “hacktivists” involved in the Ukraine war, per BBC Indonesia.
The ICRC also warned the hackers that their actions could endanger lives, including their own if the opposing side considers them legitimate military targets.
“But the worrying trend, accelerated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, is now spreading globally,” said Dr Tilman Rodenhäuser.
“Some experts consider civilian hacking activity as ‘cyber-vigilantism’ and argue that their operations are technically not sophisticated and unlikely to cause significant effects. However, some of the groups we’re seeing on both sides are large and these ‘armies’ have disrupted…banks, companies, pharmacies, hospitals, railway networks and civil government services.”
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Based on international humanitarian law, the rules are:
- Do not direct cyber-attacks against civilian objects
- Do not use malware or other tools or techniques that spread automatically and damage military objectives and civilian objects indiscriminately
- When planning cyber-attacks against a military objective, do everything feasible to avoid or minimize the effects your operation may have on civilians
- Do not conduct any cyber-operation against medical and humanitarian facilities
- Do not conduct any cyber-attack against objects indispensable to the survival of the population or that can release dangerous forces
- Do not make threats of violence to spread terror among the civilian population
- Do not incite violations of international humanitarian law
- Comply with these rules even if the enemy does not. (rr)