The Ethics of Cyber Conflicts

Mariarosaria Taddeo is Fellow in Cyber Security and Ethics in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick and Research Associate at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, UK.

Content list and chapters overview

Introduction

Part I

Chapter I Information revolution, information societies, and the role of cyber conflicts

• Introduction

• Information revolution

• Information societies

• Cyber power

• “Those who live by the digit, die by the digit”

• Conclusion

Chapter II Mapping cyber conflicts and the ethical problems that they pose

• Introduction

• Cyber conflicts: their nature

• Dual use, Vulnerabilities, and cyber weapons

• Conclusion

Chapter III Ethical problems of cybercrime and cyber terrorism

• Introduction

• Main actors and responsibilities

• Ethical risks and proportionality of responses

• Conclusion

Chapter IV Ethics of cyber activism and hacktivism

• Introduction

• Activism, cyber activism, and hacktivism

• Ethical impact of ICTs on civil and political participation

• Conclusion

Chapter V Automation and moral responsibility

• Introduction

• Automation in cyber conflicts

• Moral responsibility and artificial agents

2

o Attributing moral responsibility in automated cyber conflicts

• Conclusion

Part II

Chapter VI Ethical theories of warfare

• Introduction

• War and Warfare

• Pacifism

• Realism

• Just War Theory

• Conclusion

Chapter VII Cyber warfare and cyber operations

• Introduction

• Cyber warfare and cyber operations: what count as a harmed attack?

• The risks of cyber warfare

• Conclusion

Chapter VIII Cyber warfare and Just War Theory

• Introduction

• Cyber warfare and jus ad bellum

o Just cause

o More good than harm

o Pre-emptive and preventive cyber warfare

• Cyber warfare and jus in bello

o Discrimination

o Proportionality

• Conclusion

Chapter IX Cyber deterrence and the ethics of international relations in cyberspace

• Introduction

• Deterrence

• Cyber deterrence: actors and responsibilities

• Conclusions