Cyber-attacks and autonomous weapons under the principle of proportionality

Abstract

The digital world has produced a new type of danger, with cyber-attacks and the use of autonomous weapons becoming a reality in contemporary armed conflicts. With the new arms race in which countries arm themselves for cyberspace battles, many countries are not only conducting cyber espionage, cyber reconnaissance and investigation missions; they have also created cyber offensive capabilities, developed national strategies, and engaged in cyber-attacks at a frightening pace. The same is true for autonomous weapons, which are nothing more than machines with tremendous artificial intelligence, some of which even resemble humans in their design, and have the ability to determine their targets automatically. All a person has to do is operate them and then leave them to work by themselves. These weapons are undoubtedly the future of wars, as countries no longer need to sacrifice their human soldiers, nor spend huge sums of money on soldiers' salaries and equipment, and perhaps compensation after their death on the battlefields. Such dangerous operations had to be viewed through the lens of international humanitarian law. It is a type of war, and whenever wars exist, international humanitarian law exists to protect individuals from them in accordance with the principles in effect in this regard, including the principle of proportionality.