Ethical Challenges in Cyber Warfare: A Modular Evaluation of Offensive Cyber Justification

Abstract

Competition and conflict in cyberspace at all levels of society have become persistent in the modern world. As individuals and organizations are obliged or incentivized to engage in such competition -- either defensively or offensively -- understanding the ethical implications of cyber operations is increasingly essential. Ensuring actions in cyberspace are ethically coherent with actions in other arenas protects persons and organizations from cognitive dissonance. It can impose normative forces to keep cyberspace compatible with civil society as it is presently understood. Rather than applying extant and monolithic ethical frameworks to cyber operations, this paper explores a modular approach to ethical framework construction. We examine how cyber action might be justified by multiple broad ethical paradigms, determining how different traditions might shape ethical justifications and, therefore, the permissibility and scope of cyber actions. The paper focuses on the ethical justification for offensive actions by examining different case studies and ethical framework constructions, highlighting how the foundational decisions that define a person's or organization's ethical framework subsequently determine the scope of action permitted to or required of that entity. Ultimately, the paper seeks to reconcile the new conflict domain of cyber with longstanding ethical reasoning about conflict in general and to highlight the specific deviations or reconsiderations this new frontier may require.