Cyberspace: An Advantageous Terrain for War?

Abstract

Cyber is an operational domain of conflict joining sea and air as other domains in which conflict may occur. Cyber defence is part of collective defence. Most crises and conflicts today have a cyber dimension, so treating cyber as an operational domain will enable to better protect one's missions and operations. Cybersecurity is a priority in the field of International Relations, as cyber espionage can harm any global economy and hacking attacks are the modern way of committing espionage. Countries are increasingly militarizing the cyberspace where there is an ongoing confrontation between states: such confrontation is a mirror image of the ongoing international tensions. On the subject of law, countries should develop internationally agreed definitions of key terminology in the cyberspace in order to determine what constitutes an act of cyber warfare. A further concept to be considered is cyber resilience. Organizations should understand the impact of a potential cyberattack and the steps required to prevent, survive, and recover from such an attack. In short, the cyber world, rapidly growing and increasingly sophisticated, constitutes a new sphere and implies a new type of relationship in international relations which need a “cyber policy” space, the most recent and most important area of interest in the theoretical and practical field.

In: Security and the Global Commons, Edited by J. Martin Ramirez, and Bartolomé Bauzá-Abril. © 2021 Springer International. Submitted: August, 24, 2020; Accepted: September, 18, 2020.