CYIL 2015

KRISTÝNA URBANOVÁ CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ against impunity. 3 Admittedly, the consensus accomplished after decades of struggle over the definition might be justly seen as a historical agreement. Nevertheless, a closer look at the definition of aggression brings also some queries over the exact content of the definition of the crime of aggression. Beside those important issues concerned with the role of the United Nations Security Council, jurisdictional questions, etc., one of the main criticisms heard after the Kampala conference was over the question of whether the definition satisfies the needs of the 21 st century. 4 That is, does the definition of the crime of aggression respond appropriately to modern means of warfare, such as cyber-attacks? 2. Cyber operations 2.1 Variety of cyber operations Recent technical development has produced not only new weapons, such as drones, but has also constituted new battlefields completely distinct and distant from yesterday’s conception of armed conflict. Scrutinizing the new battlefield of cyberspace from the perspective of international law, it is useful to notice distinctions between the various detrimental kinds of cyber operations. Firstly, cybercrime does not correspond to the term of cyber-attack. Cybercrime is a crime of “ordinary” nature, employing the cyber operation in order to achieve the criminal’s task of unlawful self-enrichment. Examples of cyber-criminality include attacks on bank accounts, distribution of child pornography, etc. 5 Another example of malicious cyber operation is cyberespionage . Cyberespionage is an operation using cyber space to gain unauthorized access to confidential information, typically that held by a government or business corporations. While the motive of the cyber spies or cyber-criminals might be purely private, the cyber terrorists seek to put a government or public under pressure through the spread of threats or violence. 6 Apparently, it is the motivation of the actor which makes a difference in the categorization of these types of cyber operations. Although defining cyber terrorism or cybercrimes does not cause difficulties in contemporaneous legal theory, attempts to reach the same over the definition of cyber-attack do not show the same signs of consistency. While some authors consider 4 BOAS, A. The definition of the crime of aggression and its relevance for contemporary armed conflict, International crime database , 2013, Brief 1, available at http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/ upload/documents/20131030T045349-ICD%20Brief%201%20-%20Boas.pdf. 5 OPHARDT, J., Cyber warfare and the crime of aggression: the need for individual accountability on tomorrow’s battlefield, Duke Law & Technology Review , 2010, no. 3, p. 4. 6 SOLCE The Battlefield of Cyberspace: The Inevitable New Military Branch – The Cyber Force, ALB. L.J. SCI. & TECH ., 2008, pp. 198-324, p. 301. 3 KAUL, Hans-Peter. Kampala June 2010 – A First Review of the ICC Review Conference Gottingen Journal of International Law , 2010, no. 2, p. 649-667, p. 656.

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