Ride the Lightning

Sony Hack: Cyber Vandalism or Cyber Warfare?

December 23, 2014

For the obvious political reasons, President Obama took a lot of heat over the weekend for calling the Sony hack an act of cyber vandalism rather than cyber warfare. But I think he's right – and I was very impressed by a post authored by Brian Fung for The Washington Post.

As Fung points out, cyber warfare has a specific military definition. It involves military objectives conducted or directed by the military.

While the Sony hack was certainly a crime, and many hacks are about business espionage (and directed by governments), does the Sony hack rise to the level of cyber warfare? I don't think so.

If you believe civilians should be kept out of war as much as possible, blurring the line between cyber warfare and cybercrime (or espionage) is not a good idea. It expands exponentially the number of scenarios potentially requiring a military response. This spreads resources thin – and offers the worrisome specter of constant escalation – indeed North Korea has already said it would retaliate for any response by the U.S.

It seems to me to be a very good idea to keep a line between cyber warfare and other malicious cyber activity. In this season when we pray for peace, I fear that true cyber warfare is not far away. I'd like to be wrong.

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