The Ethics of Cyber Conflicts An Introduction

During the past decade, ethicists as well as policy-makers, political and social scientists, and experts in military studies have been concerned with the topic of cyber-conflicts and in particular the political and social ramifications for contemporary society. This book offers a clear and accessible introduction to the ethical analysis of cyber-conflicts, covering such topics as cyber-crime, cyber-terrorism, and cyber-warfare and cyber-activism. A useful introduction for students The Ethics of Cyber-Conflicts allows the readers to acquire simultaneously a comprehensive view of cyber conflicts as a new and pervasive phenomenon affecting contemporary information societies and a sophisticated, in depth understanding of the ethical problems that each instance of such phenomenon engender.

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

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.