Question

Some have argued that a Nation State sponsored cyber event will only be initiated at the onset of kinetic conflict. In a substantive post (at least 250 words or greater) develop your argument for defining when a cyber event becomes an act of war.

Answer 1

solution;

There is no one denying the fact the world is becoming increasingly digital. As a result even small day to day things such as buying necessary items are being done through online transactions. Plus we have our important documents stored digitally in our computers. With the advent of digital economy frauds etc are taking place by means of hacking. There has been a number of attacks in recent times including the ransomware.

Although most of these instances of hacking are driven by the greed of the attackers to make money, there has been cases when nation state sponsored agencies have tried to steal confidential data of another state. In view of these events many countries have now started to raise a cyber army.

Naturally the question arises when a cyber event can be termed as an act of war. For conventional ways of attack it is well understood when an act of aggression can constitute an act of war. But for an act of cyber attack there is scope for debate. The following cases in my opinion can definitely constitute an act of cyber war by a nation.

• A cyber attack along with an active kinetic conflic
• State sponsored cyber attack on critical infrastructure such as banking of another state.
• State sponsored cyber attack to paralyse the administrative units or judiciary of another country.
• A series of state sponsored cyber attacks along with the suspension of trade links between the countries leading to denial of essential commodities and services to the civilians.
• A state sponsored cyber attack to steal highly confidential state secrets of another state that may jeopardise a country's sovereignty.