CYBERWAR IN CATHOLIC ETHICS
Keywords:
Cyberwar, Cyberwarfare, Stuxnet, Ethics, Catholic Social Teaching, Ethics of InternetAbstract
The reality of cyber warfare becomes frequently more present in public debate. That relatively new phenomenon creates a space for new kinds of abuses that might have disastrous effects on the wellbeing of the whole society. This paper argues that the Catholic Church’s achievement in the domain of social ethics can bring interesting contributions to these studies. In the first section a study of the nature of cyberwar is presented, some examples of cyber attacks and international reactions to that threat are given. In the second section two examples of ethical approaches to cyberwar by lay authors are given in order to present the actual possible directions for investigation in the ethics of cyberwar. In the third section two documents published by the Catholic Church are studied. Neither of those two documents speaks directly about cyberwar, therefore author’s own application of them to this new reality is presented.
References
“NATO News: NATO Opens New Centre of Excellence on Cyber Defence,” May 14, 2008, http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2008/05-may/e0514a.html.
Antonio Spadaro, Cybertheology: Thinking Christianity in the Era of the Internet, New York: Fordham University Press, 2014.
Britannica Academic, “Cyberwar,” accessed December 11, 2015, http://academic.eb.com.proxy.bc.edu/EBchecked/topic/1498241/cyberwar.
David E. Sanger, “Obama Ordered Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,” The New York Times, June 1, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html.
Ian Traynor, “Russia Accused of Unleashing Cyberwar to Disable Estonia,” The Guardian, May 16, 2007, sec. World news, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/17/topstories3.russia.
James L Cook, “Is There Anything Morally Special about Cyberwar?,” in Cyber War: Law and Ethics for Virtual Conflicts, ed. Jens David Ohlin, Kevin Govern, and Claire Finkelstein, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Julie Hirschfeld Davis and David E. Sanger, “Obama and Xi Jinping of China Agree to Steps on Cybertheft,” The New York Times, September 25, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/world/asia/xi-jinping-white-house.html.
Katie Rogers, “Anonymous Hackers Fight ISIS but Reactions Are Mixed,” The New York Times, November 25, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/europe/anonymous-hackers-fight-isis-but-reactions-are-mixed.html.
Kim Zetter, “Exclusive: Comedy of Errors Led to False ‘Water-Pump Hack’ Report,” WIRED, November 30, 2011, http://www.wired.com/2011/11/waterpump-hack-mystery-solved/.
Larry May, “The Nature of War and the Idea of ‘Cyberwar,’” in Cyber War: Law and Ethics for Virtual Conflicts, ed. Jens David Ohlin, Kevin Govern, and Claire Finkelstein, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Nicole Perlroth and John Markoff, “Attack on Vatican Web Site Offers View of Hacker Group’s Tactics,” The New York Times, February 26, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/technology/attack-on-vatican-web-site-offers-view-of-hacker-groupstactics.
Pontifical Council for Social Communications, “Ethics in Communications,” June 2, 2000, para. 21, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_20000530_ethics-communications_en.html.
U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic Conference Office of Pub. Services, 1983.
Vatican Council II, Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 1965, para. 77, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html.
William J. Broad John Markoff and David E. Sanger, “Stuxnet Worm Used Against Iran Was Tested in Israel,” The New York Times, January 15, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/middleeast/16stuxnet.html.
