What risks do humanitarians face in cyberspace? What are the strategic implications of working in cyberspace? What steps can they take to mitigate these risks?
Building on the eighth Digital Dilemmas Dialogue, we have invited experts and academics from the technology and legal fields to discuss the implications for humanitarians of using digital tools and services. We will focus on the importance of humanitarian organizations understanding and properly mapping their use of cyberspace, the risks that cyberspace poses to their integrity, sustainability and independence, and the strategic considerations that are required to mitigate these risks.
The discussion is part of the October thematic month – Cyber operations against humanitarian organizations.
The series
The Digital Dilemmas Debates are a series of roundtable discussions between prominent experts and stakeholders from different sectors about the humanitarian digital transformation, its implications and the work ahead. Each month, they will explore a different type or trend in the technologies used to respond to various types of crisis, and offer reflections on what is coming next.
The Digital Dilemmas Debates are a component of the DigitHarium, which is part of the Humanitarian Data and Trust Initiative (HDTI).
Additional resources
Blog series: Avoiding civilian harm during military cyber operations (5 articles)
Blog series: Human costs of cyber operations (5 articles)
Hacking humanitarians: moving towards a humanitarian cybersecurity strategy, by Massimo Marelli (9 min read)
Hacking Humanitarians? IHL and the protection of humanitarian organizations against cyber operations, by Tilman Rodenhäuser
The better angels of our digital nature? Offensive cyber capabilities and state violence, by Florian J. Egloff and James Shires
Offensive Cyber Capabilities and State Violence: Three Logics of Integration, by Florian J. Egloff and James Shires
The Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace