119 / 464
105
THE KAMPALA AGREEMENT ON CRIME OF AGGRESSION …
the identity and motives of the attackers as the decisive element of the attack, others
require specific targets directed at by the assault or causing of a certain degree of
harm.
7
However, the term of cyber-attack in this paper corresponds to the definition
adopted by the United States Department of Defence, which regard as cyber-attack
“
an operations to disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information resident in computers and
computer networks or the computers and networks themselves
.”
8
2.2 Examples of cyber-attacks in recent history
Since 1998, when thousands of Chinese hackers attacked Indonesian government
sites, there have been an enormous number of cyber-attacks on public computer
networks belonging to ministries of state, media or banks.
9
The following examples
should serve to illustrate the importance of cyber space in connection with state
security.
Estonia
One of the first known massive cyber-attacks which influenced a substantive part
of a country’s network infrastructure happened in April 2007 in Estonia. The attackers
assaulted a high number of different targets in the country and managed to harm
web pages of the government, financial institutions or media.
10
The consequences of
the attack were not violent; however the brief interruption of the state’s emergency
services which occurred proves a quite serious potential of endangering crucial state
services. The operation of banks and media was affected for about a month, and the
Estonian government compared that attack and its consequences to a conventional
military one.
Persons responsible for the attack have never been identified; however the general
belief was that the attack was organised, or at least instigated by Russia, yet Russia’s
involvement has not ever been proved.
11
However, the attack materialised during a
period of tension between Russia and Estonia over the Estonian removal of a Soviet-
era monument – a bronze soldier of Tallinn (the monument pictures were displayed
in some of the corrupted pages), and technical experts supposed the attack too
sophisticated to have been launched without state involvement.
12
Nonetheless, the lack of any decisive evidence and denial of attribution from
Russia’s or anybody else’s side left the attackers unidentified.
13
7
OPHARDT, J.,
supra
note, p. 4.
8
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Joint Doctrine for Information Operations
, 9 October 1998, available at http://
www.c4i.org/jp3_13.pdf.9
O’CONNEL, M.,
Cyber Security and International Law
, Chatham House, 29 May 2012, p. 1.
10
MILLER, K., The Kampala Compromise and cyberattacks: can there be an international crime of
cyber-aggression?
Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal,
2014, vol. 23, 217 -260, p. 222.
11
O’CONNEL, M.,
Cyber Security and International Law
, Chatham House, 29 May 2012, p. 1.
12
MILLER, K.,
supra
note, p. 222.
13
MILLER, K.,
supra
note, p. 222.