The obligations of international humanitarian law are not limited to the attacker; the defender is also required to take steps to protect civilians from harm. The requirement to take precautions against the effects of attack requires the defender to minimize the risk that civilians and civilian objects will be harmed by enemy military operations. At its most basic, it obliges defenders to locate military installations away from civilians. Furthermore, where appropriate, the status of objects should be clearly marked. It is – somewhat counterintuitively – about making it easier for the attacker to select lawful targets by making visible the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives.

The increasing importance of digital infrastructure to modern life may make complying with these precautionary obligations more complicated. Maintaining separation between military and civilian networks is challenging as both operate using at least some of the same infrastructure, relying on the same cables, systems, and electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, the speed at which operations against digital infrastructure can occur increases the difficulty of complying with the obligation – particularly if such operations involve a degree of automation or the use of artificial intelligence (ai).

This paper sets out the source and extent of the obligation to take precautions against hostile military operations and considers how they might apply to digital infrastructure. As well as clarifying the extent of the obligation, it applies the obligation to take precautions against hostile military operations to digital infrastructure, giving examples of where systems designers are taking these obligations into account, and other examples of where they must.

国际人道法的义务不仅限于攻击者；维护者还必须采取措施保护平民免受伤害。对攻击影响采取预防措施的要求要求防御者将平民和民用物体受到敌方军事行动伤害的风险降至最低。从最基本的意义上说，它迫使防御者将军事设施置于远离平民的地方。此外，在适当的情况下，应清楚地标记对象的状态。这是——有点违反直觉——通过使民用物体和军事目标之间的区别可见，使攻击者更容易选择合法目标。

数字基础设施对现代生活的重要性日益增加，这可能会使遵守这些预防义务变得更加复杂。保持军用和民用网络之间的分离具有挑战性，因为两者都使用至少一些相同的基础设施，依赖相同的电缆、系统和电磁频谱。此外，针对数字基础设施的操作可能发生的速度增加了履行义务的难度——特别是如果此类操作涉及一定程度的自动化或使用人工智能 ( ai )。

本文阐述了对敌对军事行动采取预防措施的义务的来源和范围，并考虑如何将其应用于数字基础设施。除了阐明义务的范围外，它还将针对敌对军事行动采取预防措施的义务应用于数字基础设施，举例说明系统设计人员在哪些方面考虑了这些义务，以及在哪些方面必须考虑的其他例子。