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”.
