The Cyber Combatant: a New Status for a New Warrior

摘要

Cyber warfare differs from traditional forms of conflicts, both in the instruments used-computers-and in the environment in which it is conducted-the virtual world of the internet and other data communication networks. The purpose of the commentary is to discuss whether, even in cyber warfare, the concept of'direct participation in hostilities' is still operative, with special reference to the laws related to it, and to assess its consequences with regard to the law of armed conflict. In particular, I will consider whether in cyber warfare the distinction between lawful combatant and unprivileged combatant is still valid. Standing on the premises that this distinction does not apply to non-military combatants in the cyber domain and that any civilian who is taking part in cyber warfare takes direct part in the hostilities as an unlawful cyber combatant, this commentary dwells on the concept of continuous combat function and applies it to cyber combatants. This will offer the ground to address the question as to whether a virtual network, an online forum where members share methods on the way to conduct cyber attacks against a common enemy, could be assimilated to a terrorist organisation whose members have a continuous combat function.