Computer network attack: the normative software

Schmitt, M. N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7373-9557 (2001) Computer network attack: the normative software. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, 4. pp. 53-86. ISSN 1574-096X doi: 10.1017/S1389135900000829

Abstract/Summary

As the United States, assisted by a number of its allies, continues to mount asymmetrical attacks against terrorists and their supporters, the centrality of technology to ‘future war’ is becoming increasingly apparent. In a matter of months, US Forces successfully routed, with almost no hostile fire casualties, a battle-hardened and ruthless adversary in a combat environment that frustrated the potent Soviet army for a decade. Operation ENDURING FREEDOM follows close on the heels of Operation ALLIED FORCE, the 1999 NATO campaign that defeated, without friendly casualties, the Yugoslav military. In that conflict, as in the most recent one, exploitation of technological wherewithal proved a decisive factor in determining the victor.