As a general matter, international humanitarian law is up to the task of providing the legal framework for cyber operations during an armed conflict. However, two debates persist in this regard, the resolution of which will determine the precise degree of protection the civilian population will enjoy during cyber operations. The first revolves around the meaning of the term “attack” in various conduct of hostilities rules, while the second addresses the issue of whether data may be considered an object such that operations destroying or altering it are subject to the prohibition on attacking civilian objects and that their effects need be considered when considering proportionality and the taking of precautions in attack. Even if these debates were to be resolved, the civilian population would still face risks from the unique capabilities of cyber operations. This article proposes two policies that parties to a conflict should consider adopting in order to ameliorate such risks. They are both based on the premise that military operations must reflect a balance between military concerns and the interest of States in prevailing in the conflict.

中文翻译：

---

有线战 3.0：在网络行动中保护平民

一般来说，国际人道法的任务是为武装冲突期间的网络行动提供法律框架。然而，在这方面仍然存在两个争论，其解决方案将决定平民在网络行动中将享受的精确保护程度。第一个围绕“攻击”一词在各种敌对行为规则中的含义，而第二个涉及数据是否可以被视为对象的问题，以便破坏或更改数据的操作受到禁止攻击民用物体和在考虑相称性和在攻击中采取预防措施时，需要考虑它们的影响。即使这些争论得到解决，平民人口仍将面临网络作战独特能力带来的风险。本文提出了冲突各方应考虑采取的两项政策，以减轻此类风险。它们都基于这样一个前提，即军事行动必须反映军事关切和国家在冲突中占主导地位的利益之间的平衡。