Armed Attacks in Cyberspace

 (The front door to our wonderful playroom.)

I was at Chatham House last night for Elizabeth Wilmshurst's excellent International Law Discussion Group series, this time addressed by Col. Hays Parks USMC (Retd), the editor of the forthcoming US Department of Defense Manual on the Law of Armed conflict. (Yes, it's finally happening, and we can replace US Army Field Manual FM 27-10 from 1956!) As expected, Col. Parks was excellent, and with a distinguished audience asking pointedly interesting questions, it was heaven for a LOAC* geek! As usual, ILDG was all very interesting, and there will be a formal note of the meeting on the ILDG website shortly.

(An Annex to our wonderful playroom.)

But one of the most interesting elements was the news that there will be a chapter on the law covering electronic attacks and cyberwarfare. This will be the shortest of the chapters, reflecting the novelty of the subject, but it will be fascinating to see the conceptual approach that the US are taking; crucially, what will they say about the definition of an armed attack in cyberspace? All to be revealed shortly, it seems.

* Don't let Wikipedia or the ICRC mislead you, dear reader. LOAC is not "International Humanitarian Law", it is the law to regulate - and make less terrible - armed conflict... hence, the Law Of Armed Conflict - LOAC! Please note: this blog has no strong views on this subject. Too much.