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AN ETHICAL SOLUTION TO WAR: CYBER WAR
Matthew Rupnik (MJR118@pitt.edu)
even the world as a whole. President Obama addressed this in
a recent op-ed when he stated that “the cyber threat to our
nation is one of the most serious economic and national
security challenges we face” [4]. Regarding the vulnerability
of cyberspace and infrastructures, the most common form of
attack seen in cyberspace is the distributed denial of service,
also known as DDOS. This form of attack has reached all
corners of the globe, spanning from Israel, Estonia, the United
States, to Japan, and it renders any online service useless.
DDOS is where attackers use surrogate, or “zombie”
computers that they have infected with malicious code to
overwhelm websites and servers by bombarding them with
data, or “traffic” [6]. DDOS is not a particularly dangerous
attack, as damage to infrastructure rarely occurs in these
instances, but new worms and viruses are being discovered that
could lead to cyber war in the near future. The first discovery
of such a worm occurred in June 2010, when the Iranian
nuclear facility at Natanz was struck with a new cyber worm
coined “Stuxnet” [6]. “Stuxnet” was only the beginning of
such attacks on governments and organizations. In April 2011,
Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked for personal
information and shut down for weeks; in May 2011, Citibank
was infiltrated and lost the details of 360,000 of its customers;
in June 2011, the U.S. Senate and the International Monetary
Fund found themselves targets of attacks against government
organizations [3]. As cyber war becomes a more prevalent
option to individuals and governments today, one needs to
consider its effects on civilians as well as the legality of the
attacks.
INTRODUCTION: THE HISTORY OF
ETHICS AND THEIR RELATION TO CYBER
WAR
Ethical issues are nothing new to the world of engineering.
Many codes of ethics are already in place that help engineers
determine if what they are doing is ethical or not and how to
properly respond if they find themselves to be in the middle of
what seems to be an unethical situation. The leading code for
the industry is published by the National Society of
Professional Engineers (NSPE), and states in the preamble that
“Engineers must perform under a standard of professional
behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of
ethical conduct” [1]. When applying different codes of ethics
to the realm of cyberspace, certain standards may not directly
translate into clear definitions for this domain because of the
fact that typically computers and networks are involved rather
than human participants [2]. A more ethically-charged issue
as of late that has arisen in the world of cyberspace is whether
or not cyber warfare is acceptable. Cyber war is a hot button
issue because of the fact that it mixes ethical obligations from
multiple associations, such as NSPE and the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), with many state
and international laws and moral reservations [3]. When it
comes to the topic of cyber warfare, certain individuals still
have an unfair scorn towards this computerized form of war.
While there are a couple of specific ethical issues that will be
discussed in this paper, the reality is that there is nothing
unethical or unusual about waging war from afar. Fighting
from a distance and denying the opponent the opportunity to
bear their weapons has been a war tactic since the beginning
of time [4]. Computers have the ability to be used as weapons
that fit the prior description, so it is wrong that people choose
to single out this form of warfare from the rest. By using
multiple engineering codes of ethics, it can be proved that
cyber warfare is one of the most effective and ethically sound
forms of war between two parties.
ETHICS REGARDING THE CIVILIAN
POPULATION
Cyber activity has come under the microscope recently in
regards to ethical concerns. In the spring of 2012, the US
Naval Academy sponsored an entire conference on the ethical
aspects of cyber activities due to mounting concerns over them
[4]. One of the major ethical concerns when it comes to cyber
war is the collateral damage it could have on civilians.
According to the IEEE Code of Ethics, engineers agree “to
accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the
safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose
promptly factors that might endanger the public or the
environment” [7]. With more people joining the online
community every day, cyberspace as we know it is expanding
and becoming more relevant than ever before. As more people
grow competent with technology in general, certain
individuals will become proficient in hacking and cyber
warfare. Odds are these persons will be a part of the civilian
population rather than working for the government or the
armed forces. Due to this fact, the ethical issue arises as to
CYBERSPACE: WHAT IT IS AND HOW
IT IS VULNERABLE TO WAR
Cyberspace is a new kind of frontier that is truly the first of
its kind. In the physical sense, cyberspace is made up of
networking information technology, such as Internet servers
and computers. In the social sense, it is made up of the ideas
and thoughts of people and institutions that use this space [5].
This means that while cyberspace is almost a completely
virtual playground, there still are physical components that, if
attacked, could lead to some very negative consequences for
individuals, corporations, countries and their governments, or
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering
2013-10-29
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Matthew Rupnik
whether or not it is appropriate to ask these civilians to take
part in the risk of being involved with cyber warfare. The
unethical viewpoint of this issue argues that while members of
the armed forces voluntarily put themselves and their families
at risk, it would be unethical to ask normal civilians and their
families to accept the same risk [4]. The flaw in their argument
is that according to the IEEE Code of Ethics, as long as the
factors of danger are made clear to the civilians before they
make a decision, no ethical canons or codes are violated. After
all, if the individuals are aware of the risks and still choose to
participate, they are volunteering their services to the
government, no different from the members of the armed
forces. So in regards to having civilians involved with cyber
warfare on a strictly volunteer basis, no ethical lines are
crossed as long as details are fully disclosed with the
participants.
the safest forms of war and easily one of the most ethically
sound. On the other hand, war of any type is completely
unethical, which would mean that, by association, cyber war is
unethical.
CYBER WAR VERSUS KINETIC WAR
Setting aside the fact that war itself is unethical, it is
important to think about which form of war is more ethical,
cyber war or kinetic war? While many people consider this a
debatable question, it is clear that cyber war is far more ethical
than kinetic war. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Defense
Analysis Distinguished Professor Dorothy Denning said it best
when she stated, “If you can achieve the same effects with a
cyber weapon versus a kinetic weapon, often that option is
ethically preferable … If an operation is morally justifiable,
than a cyber route is likely preferable, because it causes less
harm” [8]. This proves that cyber warfare is more acceptable
than any other form of warfare, especially air warfare. When
talking about air warfare during World War II, former prime
minister Stanley Baldwin said, “the only defense is in offense,
which means that you have got to kill more women and
children more quickly than the enemy if you want to save
yourselves” [4]. While this may be the case when it comes to
air warfare, or any type of kinetic warfare in general, this
proves to be true in very few cases when it comes to cyber
warfare because human lives are rarely at stake. “Overall,
cyber weapons are more humane, less destructive, and less
risky than kinetic weapons for achieving certain military
effects” [8]. These reasons alone show that cyber war is more
ethical than kinetic war.
ETHICS REGARDING THE LAW
One of the biggest if not the biggest ethical concern
regarding cyber war is the legality of it. The problem many
people face when it comes to this issue is that any laws
regarding war of any type are vague. The sixth fundamental
canon of the NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers states that
“Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties shall
conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and
lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness
of the profession” [1]. According to this canon, “adherence to
the law is a baseline ethical responsibility, but it is only that –
a baseline. In the March 2012 edition of Armed Forces
Journal, Lt Gabriel Bradley, USN, points out that ‘the law of
armed conflict sets minimum standards’” [4]. This proves to
be true as “The United Nations Charter prohibits the use of
force by one state against another, but in the cyber world,
where are the borders and what constitutes force” [8]? The
answer to this is that there are no specific answers as of now
because most of the laws of armed conflict are meant to deal
with kinetic, or lethal, weaponry, not computerized [4]. The
United Nations, or UN, currently bans only acts associated
with terrorism, meaning that terrorism itself is not banned.
Under these definitions, it is important to notice that there is
nothing relating to cyber terrorism or acts of cyber terror [9].
Due to the fact that the UN does not have any consistent laws
governing either cyber war or cyber terror, many people
believe no existing law could or should apply to cyberspace.
This is a relatively weak argument because most of the law of
armed conflict is not domain specific [4]. The concept of
armed conflict is not ethical at all because it violates many
codes and canons, including the first fundamental canon of the
NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers stating that “Engineers, in
the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall hold
paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public” [1].
This leads to an ethical grey area that leaves no clear
explanation on whether cyber war is fundamentally ethical or
completely unethical. On the one hand, because cyber warfare
rarely involves kinetic weaponry, it is fundamentally one of
THE BENEFITS OF CYBER WARFARE
Cyber war also happens to be more beneficial than kinetic
war. Referring back to the “Stuxnet” cyber worm, there are
many positive things we can take away from this attack,
including a possible solution to an ethical dilemma. The
“Stuxnet” attack was a powerful and effective strike, but it
lacked two ethical components; it denied Iran the ability to
counterattack, and it lacked a digital signature from the
attacking organization. Iran was denied the ability to
counterattack mainly due to the fact that there was no digital
signature attached, which pushed them towards more extreme
behavior. While there are no laws that require an ability to
counterattack or a cyber attribution to the attack, establishing
a universal understanding between nations on what needs to be
included or facilitated in an attack would go a long way in
resolving the ethical concern of anonymous malicious strikes.
Such understanding would have been useful in the case of Iran,
as well as in the case of the 9/11 attacks. Cyber terrorism
cannot be ruled out in the case of 9/11 because “a US
Government review conducted in 2010 is reported to have
revealed that the computer systems of the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) remain vulnerable to cyber-attacks as
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Matthew Rupnik
most air traffic control facilities have not been upgraded to
respond adequately to cyber intrusions” [10]. Although Al
Qaeda took credit for these attacks, it is impossible to
determine if any of these attacks were of the cyber form
because no digital signatures were found. Experts seem to
believe that they can make cyber attribution more desirable on
the international level by proposing the threat of trade
sanctions and other economic disadvantages. While it may be
difficult to reach an agreement on the legal and moral
questions of cyber war, starting the conversation is a great first
step, and when an agreement is finally reached, it could spell
out great benefits for the future of cyber war.
forms of conflict. Cyber war would be very beneficial in the
long term, especially with the implementation of cyber
attribution. Espionage figures to be of little concern in cyber
warfare because as Denning points out, “Our interconnected
economies serve as a deterrent to cyber sabotage that would
damage the economy. I think that a state would be very
cautious about damaging another nation’s economy because it
would likely damage their own economy in the process” [8].
Overall, it just makes sense to make the switch from kinetic
warfare to cyber warfare; cyber warfare is smarter, safer, and
most importantly, more ethical than any other form of warfare
we know of to date.
WAR AND CYBER WAR MOVING
FORWARD
REFERENCES
[1] (2007, July). “Code of Ethics for Engineers.” National
Society of Professional Engineers. (Online website).
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html.
[2] M. Crete-Nishihata, R. Deibert. (2011). “Blurred
Boundaries: Probing the Ethics of Cyberspace Research.”
Review of Policy Research.
(Online article).
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE
%7CA268870782&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r&p=AONE&s
w=w&authCount=1. pp. 531-537.
[3] D. M. Todd. (2011, July 1). “Laws, ethics complicate the
battle for cybersecurity.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Online
website).
http://www.postgazette.com/business/technology/2011/07/01/Laws-ethicscomplicate-the-battle-for-cybersecurity.print.
[4] C. J. Dunlap Jr. (2013). “Some Reflections on the
Intersection of Law and Ethics in Cyber War.” Air & Space
Power
Journal.
(Online
article).
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA316664176
&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w. pp. 22-43.
[5] D. Ashenden, D. Barnard-Wills. (2012, March 21).
“Securing Virtual Space: Cyber War, Cyber Terror, and Risk.”
Space
and
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http://sac.sagepub.com/content/15/2/110. pp. 110-123.
[6] V. Platt. (2011). “Still the fire-proof house? An analysis of
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(Online
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%7CA293350816&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r&p=AONE&s
w=w&authCount=1. pp. 155-167.
[7] “IEEE Code of Ethics.” Institute of Electrical and
Electronics
Engineers.
(Online
website).
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html.
[8] K. Stewart. (2013, June 4). “Cyber Security Hall of Famer
Discusses Ethics of Cyber Warfare.” United States Navy.
(Online
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http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=74613.
[9] C. E. Lentz. (2010). “A State’s Duty to Prevent and
Respond to Cyberterrorist Acts.” Chicago Journal of
International
Law.
(Online
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http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/c
It is possible that in the near future, the most prevalent form
of war may have shifted from kinetic war to cyber war, merely
because cyber war is a more humane form of war than kinetic
war. In addition to the previously mentioned cyber-attacks on
Sony, Citibank, and various government organizations, the
Department of Defense has also run in to a plethora of cyber
problems. As shown by a 2005 computer security report by
IBM, “There are over 3 million unauthorized attempts to
access Defense of Department [sic] computers per day; U.S.
government systems are the most targeted for cyberaggression
in the world and experts agree that only a small fraction of
attacks are detected and/or reported” [11]. None of these
attacks ended up being an attempt at cyber war, but in the
future, when cyber war becomes more popular, it would be
helpful for the United States, as well as the world as a whole,
to know where these threats originated as well as what action
is necessary to take against them.
CONCLUSION: CYBER WAR IS THE
ETHICAL CHOICE OF WAR
The overall point of this paper was to discuss why cyber
warfare is one of the most effective and ethically sound forms
of war between two parties. Since cyberspace as a whole is
becoming a larger part of today’s society, it is important to
prove that cyber war is an ethically clean way to settle disputes
between nations. As far as ethics involving civilians are
concerned, there is significantly less collateral damage
associated with cyber war versus kinetic war, meaning as long
as civilians that volunteer their skills for cyber warfare are
fully aware with what they are getting into, cyber war abides
by the guidelines provided in the IEEE Code of Ethics. When
involving the law, the ethics provided by the NSPE Code of
Ethics for Engineers create a situation where there is no
definitive answer on the morality of cyber war. In my opinion,
conflict of any type tends to violate various ethical codes, but
if I had to choose a type of war that was the most ethical and
moral, I would have to choose cyber war because of the fact
that it is one of the safest, least destructive, and most humane
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Matthew Rupnik
jil10&id=803&collection=journals&index=journals/cjil#803.
pp. 799-823.
[10] R. Abeyratne. (2011, May 31). “Cyber terrorism and
aviation-national and international responses.” Journal of
Transportation
Security.
(Online
article).
DOI:
10.1007/s12198-011-0074-3. pp. 337-349.
[11] J. P. Callaghan, R. J. Harknett, R. Kauffman. (2010).
“Leaving Deterrence Behind: War-Fighting and National
Cybersecurity.” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management. (Online article). DOI: 10.2202/1547-7355.1636.
pp. 1-24.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Erin Yingling, Nick Davis, and
Catherine McElhinny for providing a positive and productive
environment for me to work in, Lauren Gattos for assisting me
in crafting a better paper, and lastly, I would like to thank John
Calvasina for providing valuable feedback on the previous
paper to help me succeed on this one.
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