Cyber warfare: What does it mean for civilians?

KUALA LUMPUR: While technological developments have helped increase efficiency and accessibility across the globe, it has also opened doors for new means of cyber operations in armed conflicts.

With that has come a growing use of autonomous weapons and artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, which could pose dire consequences to average civilians, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“We see growing use of cyber operations in military operations,” said its Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Christine Cipolla.

“These cyber operations are the possibility of someone – could be a state military, non-state armed group or those directly participating in hostilities – using cyber means to infiltrate the system and try to collect, modify and destroy data that belong to the system.”

She told Astro Awani that a variety of offline “targets” can be disrupted or damaged, including telecommunications, transport, governmental and financial systems.

However, the ICRC was particularly concerned about the potential human cost of cyber operations on critical civilian infrastructure such as hospitals.

With healthcare systems becoming increasingly digilitalised, Cipolla noted that they were often vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Coupled with traditional military operations that could damage water and power infrastructure through shelling, this could bring devastating consequences.

She added that the utilisation of autonomous weapon systems also raised serious concerns from a humanitarian, legal and ethical perspective as they “entail the loss of human control.”

Several widely reported cyberattacks have taken place in recent months, many of which have been aligned with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In February, hackers crippled tens of thousands of satellite internet modems across Europe as Russian forces entered eastern Ukraine. Microsoft also reported that Russian hackers had compromised multiple Ukrainian organisations including the media, nuclear power companies and government agencies.

In response, Ukraine called upon an “IT Army” of volunteer hacktivists to assist the country in cyber defence against Russia.

Addressing the need to reduce human suffering in cyber warfare, Cipolla highlighted that international humanitarian laws could provide some provisions and limit the means or methods of cyber operations.

“We are not opposed to new technologies of warfare per se, but the way it is used and the way it is making people capable of using it must be in accordance with the existing rules of international humanitarian law. This is the minimum requirement,” she said.

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the ICRC’s presence in Kuala Lumpur. Its Kuala Lumpur Regional Delegation promotes humanitarian values and relevant international norms and standards with government agencies, detaining authorities, armed and security forces, as well as civil society groups.