The cyber warfare between Russia and Ukraine has exposed the reality and severity of cyberattacks as part of warfare, with calls for such attacks to be treated as war crimes. According to Victor Zhora, the deputy chairman and chief digital transformation at the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), the conflict with Russia is a hybrid one with correlations between cyberattacks, kinetic, and information attacks.
Zhora’s research and analysis revealed that public authorities and local governments, which operate for the benefit of civilians and are vital to the country, are the most targeted. From 2020 to 2021, the energy sector was attacked by both cyber and missile attacks continuously.
In addition, the Russians have deployed massive campaigns to harvest personal data from Ukrainian citizens, although the purpose of such activities remains unclear.
Zhora and cybersecurity experts are gathering evidence of cyberattacks against civilian and critical infrastructure, with the hope of convincing the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to classify them as war crimes. According to Zhora, this action is necessary since the global democratic community lacked the legal instruments to confront cyberterrorism and cyberattacks as war crimes.
However, the plan to provide evidence to the ICC is an unprecedented and challenging task since it requires strong political will. “Such decisions as recognizing that a certain country is a cyber terrorist and needs to be held accountable require strong political will,” Zhora said. “Such will, in turn, depends on how much national governments and international institutions are aware of the risks.”
The idea of classifying cyber attacks against civilian infrastructure as war crimes is gaining traction in international policy circles. With foreign policy analyst Jessica Berlin, who has traveled to Ukraine on several occasions since the full-scale invasion started, arguing that rules and classifications should be adjusted when discussing cyber warfare.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is working to strengthen its legislation around cybersecurity, seeking to increase the country’s cyber defense based on the lessons learned since the start of the war with Russia. Ukrainian bill No. 8087 seeks to strengthen the security of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure as well as enhance the exchange of information regarding cybersecurity incidents. The bill also intends to create a system of cyber defense units in state authorities and introduce a new system of state control over the technical protection of information.
Ukraine’s head of cybersecurity added that the knowledge gathered by Ukraine is shared with its partners within the cybersecurity community, which are also increasingly targeted and face their own set of challenges.
“We share our experience and know-how with the partner countries’ dedicated cyber defense agencies, businesses, and civil sector so that their citizens won’t experience the effects of this aggression themselves,” Zhora said. “We are working hard towards creating a unified secure cyberspace for the entire civilized world.”
While cyberattacks are increasingly prevalent, treating them as war crimes will require unified action and political will. In the meantime, countries need to strengthen their cyber defenses and create a network of information sharing, cooperation, and support to prevent future attacks.