How to think about cyber conflicts involving non-state actors

Phillip McReynolds

pp. 427-448

in: Ludovica Glorioso (ed), Cyber-conflicts, Philosophy & Technology 28 (3), 2015.

Abstract

A great deal of attention has been paid in recent years to the legality of the actions of states and state agents in international and non-international cyber conflicts. Less attention has been paid to ethical considerations in these situations, and very little has been written regarding the ethics of the participation of non-state actors in such conflicts. In this article, I analyze different categories of non-state participation in cyber operations and undertake to show under what conditions such actions, though illegal, might be morally defensible.