Rules of cyberwar: don't target nuclear plants or hospitals, says Nato manual

[dipsydoodle]

State-sponsored cyber-attacks must avoid sensitive civilian targets such as hospitals, dams, dykes and nuclear power stations, according to an advisory manual on cyber-warfare written for Nato, which predicts that online attacks could in future trigger full-blown military conflicts.

The first attempt to codify how international law applies to online attacks includes a provision for states to respond with conventional force if aggression through hacking into computer networks by another state results in death or significant damage to property.

The handbook, written by 20 legal experts working in conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the US Cyber Command, says full-scale wars could be triggered by online attacks on computer systems. It also states that so-called "hacktivists" who participate in online attacks during a war can be legitimate targets even though they are civilians.

The group of experts was invited to draw up the handbook by Nato's Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, the Estonian capital. The project took three years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/18/rules-cyberwarfare-nato-manual

[JayhawkSD]

1. The United States will, of course, be exempt.

Probably claim we were "grandfathered" by the Stuxnet which targeted the Iranian nuclear industry.