CYIL 2015

118 / 464

104
KRISTÝNA URBANOVÁ CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ
against impunity.3 Admittedly, the consensus accomplished after decades of struggle
over the definition might be justly seen as a historical agreement.
Nevertheless, a closer look at the definition of aggression brings also some queries
over the exact content of the definition of the crime of aggression. Beside those
important issues concerned with the role of the United Nations Security Council,
jurisdictional questions, etc., one of the main criticisms heard after the Kampala
conference was over the question of whether the definition satisfies the needs of
the 21st century.4 That is, does the definition of the crime of aggression respond
appropriately to modern means of warfare, such as cyber-attacks?
2. Cyber operations
2.1 Variety of cyber operations
Recent technical development has produced not only new weapons, such as
drones, but has also constituted new battlefields completely distinct and distant
from yesterday’s conception of armed conflict. Scrutinizing the new battlefield of
cyberspace from the perspective of international law, it is useful to notice distinctions
between the various detrimental kinds of cyber operations.
Firstly, cybercrime does not correspond to the term of cyber-attack. Cybercrime is
a crime of “ordinary” nature, employing the cyber operation in order to achieve the
criminal’s task of unlawful self-enrichment. Examples of cyber-criminality include
attacks on bank accounts, distribution of child pornography, etc.5 Another example
of malicious cyber operation is cyberespionage. Cyberespionage is an operation using
cyber space to gain unauthorized access to confidential information, typically that
held by a government or business corporations. While the motive of the cyber spies or
cyber-criminals might be purely private, the cyber terrorists seek to put a government
or public under pressure through the spread of threats or violence.6 Apparently, it is
the motivation of the actor which makes a difference in the categorization of these
types of cyber operations.
Although defining cyber terrorism or cybercrimes does not cause difficulties in
contemporaneous legal theory, attempts to reach the same over the definition of
cyber-attack do not show the same signs of consistency. While some authors consider
3 KAUL, Hans-Peter. Kampala June 2010 – A First Review of the ICC Review Conference Gottingen
Journal of International Law, 2010, no. 2, p. 649-667, p. 656.
4 BOAS, A. The definition of the crime of aggression and its relevance for contemporary armed conflict,
International crime database, 2013, Brief 1, available at
upload/documents/20131030T045349-ICD%20Brief%201%20-%20Boas.pdf.
5 OPHARDT, J., Cyber warfare and the crime of aggression: the need for individual accountability on
tomorrow’s battlefield, Duke Law & Technology Review, 2010, no. 3, p. 4.
6 SOLCE The Battlefield of Cyberspace: The Inevitable New Military Branch – The Cyber Force, ALB.
L.J. SCI. & TECH., 2008, pp. 198-324, p. 301.