Please join us join in person in room P1-547 or online as Daryna Abbakumova presents "Cyber Operations in Armed Conflicts: The Case of Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine."
About the Seminar
Contemporary international armed conflicts take place not only on the battlefield, but also in cyberspace using digital technologies. The aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine clearly demonstrates that international armed conflicts can occur not only with the use of conventional weapons, but also with cyber weapons.
Despite the fact that most cyber-attacks are successfully repelled and intercepted at the initial stage, their number increases every year. This causes great concern because the civilian population also began to suffer greatly from such attacks. Cyber-attacks can cause serious damage to healthcare facilities, critical infrastructure or communication networks. During an international armed conflict, such actions are equated to attacks on civilian objects and may lead to international criminal responsibility. In this case, it is worth talking about war crimes. Although the International Criminal Court has recently expressed the possibility of prosecuting such crimes, it is necessary to clearly understand how and when a cyber-attack can be qualified as a war crime. Widespread and systematic cyber operations against Ukraine during an ongoing international armed conflict provide a clear and contemporary basis for analyzing how cyber operations affect the conduct and legal regulation of modern international armed conflicts.
About the Speaker
Daryna Abbakumova is a SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding/International Law Department, Visiting Professor at the International Law Department, Geneva Graduate Institute.
Online meeting information
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