In a Cyber War, Is it Ethical to Kill Enemy Hackers? Cyber wars are heating up.

Question

In a Cyber War, Is it Ethical to Kill Enemy Hackers? Cyber wars are heating up. Foreign governments (particularly China) are continually being accused of trying to hack into the computer systems of both the U.S. government and high-tech companies. Cybersecurity is a very important issue today and is a source of ongoing discussion between countries such as the United States and China. For instance, cybersecurity was high on the agenda for the meeting between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 following a government report that found nearly 40 Pentagon weapons programs and almost 30 other defense technologies were compromised by cyber intrusions from China. And, earlier that year, a cybersecurity firm linked a secret Chinese military unit to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. While China’s government denies any involvement and the countries are not officially at war, how do actual wars and cyber wars differ? Is a country hacking into another country’s computer systems an act of war? If so, should those hackers be fair targets for retaliation? Just as the military is permitted to kill enemy soldiers attacking its country or its citizens, should they also kill enemy hackers? Is cyber warfare any less of an actual conflict than ground or air-based physical combat? What about computer programmers that control the drones and missles used in combat—are they fair targets? Pick a side on this issue, form an opinion and gather supporting evidence, and be prepared to discuss and defend your position in a classroom debate or in a 1–2 page paper, depending on your instructor’s directions.

Explanation / Answer

Cyberwarfare is Internet-based conflict involving politically motivated attacks on information and information systems. Cyberwarfare attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and criple financial systems -- among many other possibilities.

Actual war between countries is carried out with weapones and soilders, there is a loss of human lives and wealth. These wars are fought for land, political issues or due to conflits.

Wars in 20th century before World War II

Start   Finish   Conflict   Combatants   Fatalities
1910   1918   Border War   United States v. Mexico   100+
1932   1935   Chaco War   Bolivia v. Paraguay   ~100,000
1938   1938   Battle of Lake Khasan   Soviet Union v. Japan   ~1,300
1939   1939   Slovak–Hungarian War   Slovakia v. Hungary   66
1939   1939   Battle of Khalkhin Gol   Soviet Union and Mongolia v. Japan and Manchukuo   ~16,000

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