Cyber Warfare

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Ukranian ‘IT Army’: A Cyber Levée en Masse or Civilians Directly Participating in Hostilities?

In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov announced in a tweet the creation of an ‘IT Army’. According to reports, as many as 400, 000 people from across the world have joined. A list of targets has been published and it includes a range of governmental departments, businesses and banks in Russia and Belarus. The list has been translated into English to help foreign IT specialists conduct cyber attacks. Since the beginning of the war, the IT Army has launched a number of DDOS attacks against Russian targets and knocked offline websites belonging to the Kremlin, Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defence. DDOS attacks have also been directed against Russian companies and banks including the Moscow Stock Exchange. Belarus’s railway network has been hacked and was taken offline with the apparent aim of disrupting Russia’s transport of troops and equipment to Ukraine. The IT Army has also…

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Unilateral Economic Sanctions to Deter and Punish Cyber-Attacks: Are They Here to Stay?

In June 2021 during the Biden-Putin summit, President Biden stated that critical infrastructure should be “off-limits” to cyber-attacks and handed over a list of 16 areas of critical infrastructure that under no circumstance should be targeted by cyber-attacks. This took place after the SolarWinds cyber-attack that was described by SolarWinds Vice-President as “your worst nightmare”.

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The Oxford Statement on International Law Protections in Cyberspace: The Regulation of Ransomware Operations

In the past few months, nothing has reminded everyone of the etymology of the expression ‘computer virus’ like ransomware. This form of malicious code is delivered through a vulnerability in the victim’s system, such as a phishing email or password spraying, infiltrating and potentially crippling it like a disease. Specifically, ransomware is used to encrypt user data and…

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The pandemic, UN cyber negotiations and international law and norms

Bright winter sunlight flooded the non-descript conference room in the Palais des Nations, as delegates of the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on cyber took their seats. It was February 2020, and the 2-year multilateral process was still in its early days, with negotiations scheduled over the course of the next 18 months. While delegations did not…

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International Law at NATO’s Brussels Summit

The June 2021 NATO summit in Brussels was noteworthy for the U.S. renewal of its commitment to the Alliance. Speaking with Secretary-General Stoltenberg, President Biden reassured NATO members (the “Allies”) that “NATO is critically important for U.S. interests” and “Article 5, we take as a sacred obligation.” Also noteworthy was the extent to which NATO…

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