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Thread: Is a cyber attack an act of war?

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    About 70 years ago Sci Fi author Robert Heinlein wrote a short story "The Roads Must Roll". The premise was that an extremely elaborate system of moving "roadways" were developed that allowed quick transportation from and to anywhere. A group of what we would now call terrorist blew up the power to some of the major roads. This caused a collapse of those roads of course but it also caused an overload of other roads that were feeders to those roads causing havoc there. The point is that it would not be necessary to shut down all electrical grids, just the major ones which would then cause overloads on the remaining grids.

    In my humble opinion a cyber attack is just as much an act of war as was the attack on Pearl Harbor or the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Both would accomplish the same result, a destruction of another nation's economic or social structure. The fact that one required many to die and the other does not is not relevant since the end result is the same. Perhaps, as we become increasing tied to the Cloud and computers in general a cyber attack could be far more destructive than bombs and bullets.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roads_Must_Roll

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    Quote Originally Posted by Adelaide View Post
    You asked. According to nearly everyone who works in counterterrorism, a terrorist group or terrorist acting alone cannot commit an act of war (I disagree, but that is the official stance). By definitions and precedent, only a state can commit an act of war. So, it depends a lot on the scenario. It is certainly not just countries that would attack US infrastructure if they got the chance.

    If cyber attacks are considered an act of war than the US has committed acts of war against several countries.
    Yes, only a state can commit an act of war under current international law. We really need to add an official category of transnational terrorist to our law of war body of jurisprudence.
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    There are "acts of war" between nations all the time. In comparison, there are very few wars.

    If nations went to war over every "act of war" humans would be near extinct, or extinct.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    There are "acts of war" between nations all the time. In comparison, there are very few wars.

    If nations went to war over every "act of war" humans would be near extinct, or extinct.
    What is the difference between "an act of war" and an actual war? My short answer would be any act of war would allow the aggrieved nation to declare war and launch a full blown counter attack. When the Germans sank the Rueben James in 1941 in the North Sea that was certainly an act of war but FDR did not ask for a declaration of war.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Yes, only a state can commit an act of war under current international law. We really need to add an official category of transnational terrorist to our law of war body of jurisprudence.
    Unless a terrorist or terror group can be seen as representing a government it precludes an official act of war, since they only represent individuals. It's pretty much a technicality in reality, because official "police actions" have all the earmarks of war, with the exception that the nation being besieged by terrorism is on-board with the police action. In fact, most people call them wars despite the official designation.
    In quoting my post, you affirm and agree that you have not been goaded, provoked, emotionally manipulated or otherwise coerced into responding.



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    Quote Originally Posted by DLLS View Post
    Or since the C.I.A. can disguise their hacking activity as coming from other nations it could be our own government looking for an excuse to invade another nation that has done nothing wrong.
    This is the major problem. Those with the capability to perform major cyber attacks have the ability to disguise where it is from. This isn't really a secret. We've done it, and there's reason to believe other countries have as well. There's really no reliable way to tell the origins.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    If the opposition can put a virus on one grid, I imagine they can put it on all grids.
    With the exception of tests, this is likely the way it would be done.

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