Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fog in the Fifth Dimension: The Ethics of Cyber-War

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Ethics of Information Warfare

Part of the book series: Law, Governance and Technology Series ((LGTS,volume 14))

Abstract

Cyber-warfare is a cutting-edge topic in armed conflict. It can be defined, at least initially, as attempting to use the Internet, and related advanced computer technologies, to substantially harm the fundamental interests of a political community. And cyber-space has been referred to as “the fifth dimension of warfare,” after: land; water; air; and space. Yet, much confusion (or “fog”) surrounds cyber-warfare, both regarding its present realities and its future potential. How much damage can cyber-attacks actually do? Is it even appropriate to liken computer-based cyber-attacks to physical (“kinetic”) violence? Is “informational warfare”, as cyber-war is otherwise known, changing the very nature of political conflict in our time (indeed, for all time)? This chapter aspires to clear up some—but certainly not all—of this fog which surrounds the fifth dimension. It will do so by means of critically examining three important distinctions in this regard. But first, some workable definitions are required.

All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight which, like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are. (Clausewitz 1995)

Carl von Clausewitz, On War

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aristotle. 1984. The politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (Trans. by Carnes Lord.).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, S. 2009. Cyber threats: The emerging fault lines of the nation-state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carr, J. 2010. Inside cyber warfare. London: O’Reilly.

    Google Scholar 

  • CBS News. 2009. “60 min”. broadcast Nov. 06, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W. 2002. Waging modern war. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R. 2010. Cyber war. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R. 2012. Cyber-war: The next threat to national security and what to do about it. New York: Ecco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clausewitz, K. 1995. On war. Harmondsworth: Penguin, with quote at 64 (Trans. by A. Rapoport.).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, M. 2010. ‘Cyberation’ and just war doctrine. Journal of Military Ethics 2010:417–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinniss, H. 2012. Cyber-warfare and the laws of war. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dipert, R. 2011. The probable impact of future cyberwarfare, paper delivered at The First International Workshop on “The Ethics of Informational Warfare”, University of Hertfordshire (UK), July 1, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbins, J., and S. Jones, eds. 2007. The United Nations’ role in nation-building. Washington, DC: RAND.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbins, J., et al. 2003. America’s role in nation-building. Washington, DC: RAND.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floridi, L. 2010a. Information. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Floridi, L., ed. 2010b. The cambridge handbook of information and computer ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. 2011a. The Fog of Cyber-War, Vanity Fair (April 2011), 155–198, with quote at 198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. 2011b. Enter the Cyber-Dragon, Vanity Fair (Sept. 2011), 220–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyacinthe, B. 2011. Cyber-warriors at war. New York: XLibris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatieff, M. 2001. Virtual war: Kosovo and beyond. London: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. T., and G. Weigel, eds. 1991. Just war and gulf war. Washington: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kant, I. 1983. Perpetual peace and other essays. Indianapolis: Hackett (Trans. by T. Humphrey.).

    Google Scholar 

  • Karatzogianni, A., ed. 2008. Cyber-conflict and global politics. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Keegan, J. 1990. The second world war. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keegan, J. 1994. The first world war. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kissinger, H. 1995. Diplomacy. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, G. 2011. Just War Theory and Cyber-War, paper delivered at The First International Workshop on “The Ethics of Informational Warfare”, University of Hertfordshire (UK), July 1, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynn, W. J. 2010. Defending a new domain: The pentagon’s cyberstrategy. Foreign Affairs 2010 (Sept./Oct.): 97–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machiavelli, N. 1998. The prince. New York: Penguin Classics.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Menthe, D. 1998. Jurisdiction in cyberspace. Michigan Technology Law Review 69 (1998): 6–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgenthau, H. 1970. Politics among nations. 5th ed. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, B., and R. Scales. 2003. The Iraq war. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • New York Times. 2010. Malware Hits Computerized Industrial Equipment. New York Times, 24 Sept.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 1999. Crisis in Kosovo: A just use of force? Politics 19 (1999): 125–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2000a. War and international justice: A Kantian perspective. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2002b. Justice after war. Ethics and International Affairs 16 (1): 43–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2006. The morality of war. Peterborough: Broadview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2009. On war: A dialogue. Lanham: Rowman Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2012. Justice after war: Towards a new Geneva convention. In Ethics beyond war’s end, ed. E. Patterson, 175–196. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orend, B. 2013. Introduction to international studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, M. 2007. The Wilsonian persuasion in American foreign policy. New York: Cambria.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. 1993. Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regan, R. 1996. Just war: Principles and cases. Washington, DC: Catholic University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, A., and R. Guelff, eds. 1999. Documents on the laws of war. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, H. 2006. Patrolling cyberspace. Washington, DC: Larstan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stallwood, O. 2012. Flame virus: How malware became the new weapon of war. Metro News, London, UK, 26 June.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Economist. 2010. Special report on cyberwar: War in the fifth domain. The Economist 2010 (July 1): 18–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Congressional House. 2011. Computer security: Cyber-attacks and war without borders. Washington, DC: Books LLC.

    Google Scholar 

  • USJFC. 2010. Cyberwar report. released Feb. 18, 2010. www.jfcom.mil.

  • Ventre, D. 2010. Cyberguerre. Paris: Hermes-Lavoisier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ventre, D. 2011. Cyberespace et actueurs du cyberconflict. Paris: Hermes-Lavoisier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walzer, M. 1977. Just and unjust wars. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, B. 2004. Plan of attack. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

    Brian Orend

Authors
  1. Brian Orend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Orend .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

    Luciano Floridi

  2. Politics and International Studies, Research Fellow in Cyber Security and Ethics, PAIS, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

    Mariarosaria Taddeo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Orend, B. (2014). Fog in the Fifth Dimension: The Ethics of Cyber-War. In: Floridi, L., Taddeo, M. (eds) The Ethics of Information Warfare. Law, Governance and Technology Series, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04135-3_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation