Civilian hackers could become military targets, Red Cross warns

Civilians taking to cyberspace to participate in hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could be lawfully exposed to military actions in response, a senior official from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Friday.

Mauro Vignati, the ICRC’s advisor on the digital technologies of warfare, told the Munich Cyber Security Conference that the organization is concerned about the potential for undermining humanitarian laws protecting civilians during wartime. Digital volunteers, he said, are complicating the legal calculus. 

Although he …

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