The way modern wars are conducted is already blurring the lines between combatants and civilians, military and civilian infrastructure, even military and civilian information and data.
It is no longer necessary to have “boots on the ground” or planes overhead to cause civilian harm. Harm can be caused remotely, instantly with a strike of a key, and across borders. When connectivity is disrupted, people lose access to life-saving information. If electricity fails, hospitals, water systems, and other essential services collapse. Disease, injury, and loss of life follow without a single bomb being dropped.
Yet even though cyber operations are transforming warfare, they don’t change the obligation to protect civilians under international humanitarian law (IHL).
Technology is not developed or used in a legal vacuum; IHL applies even in cyberspace. Warring parties should only use weapons which they can control and use in compliance with the law: if it cannot reliably distinguish between civilian and military objects, it must not be used. In fact, it should not even be developed. This places clear responsibility on engineers, developers, states, and companies for the real-world consequences of the technologies they design and deploy.
Cyber operations can also directly impact our ability to operate. When sensitive data is exposed or manipulated, already vulnerable people face even greater harm. Without secure access to data or reliable connectivity for medical, logistics, and transport systems, our capacity to provide aid quickly and at scale is severely constrained. For the ICRC, protecting data and other operational information means protecting lives, and maintaining the trust we need to access those most vulnerable and those who are in a position to control their fate, which is why we invest heavily in safeguarding it.
This is also why we are deliberate about the technologies we use and the partners we work with. We must balance the benefits of innovation with strong cybersecurity, while operating in fragile environments shaped by political pressures and infrastructure disruption.
Ultimately, humanitarian action depends on trust, continuity, and the ability to operate under degraded conditions. The key question – one reflected in this year’s CYBERUK discussions – is how we design, secure, and govern technologies that remain reliable and responsible in crisis contexts.
We acknowledge Source link for the information.
