Answer

Lethal Military Force as a Response to Cyber Attacks, Cyber Warfare, or Gray Zone Conflict

The growing threat posed by cyber attacks has triggered a demand for elucidation or explanation of the permissibility of lethal military force as a reaction or response to cyber warfare. An example of the demand for clarification is the legislation associated with the Cyber Act of War Act introduced by Senator Mike Rounds to the Congress in 2016 (Mendoza, 2017). In my opinion, the employment of lethal military force as a response to cyber attacks or gray zone conflict is justifiable considering that these attacks amount to Acts of war and have a potential to deny a nation’s sovereignty and cause significant damage or catastrophe to critical infrastructure, as in the case of conventional weapons such as guns and bombs.  

Cyber attackers can undermine national interests and threaten state sovereignty. The enormity of the threat posed by cyber warfare to nations and states is evident in the ranks of 2015 that placed these attacks as the leading threats to national safety or security (Dayem, 2018). Apart from being a significant threat to the national security, cyber attacks cause immense damage to the critical infrastructure, thereby paralyzing a nation’s operation and economy. It is vital to note that the most lethal attacks associated with cyber warfare are not physically available or immediate in the manner of conventional weapons such as bombs and guns (Dayem, 2018). Cyber attackers employ digital code in place of arms, targeting a nation’s systems of crucial information. The eventual impacts of cyber attacks could include bodily harm and physical damage, which in makes these attacks as potent as traditional attacks. For instance, interfering with the system of water distribution would ultimately pose lethal impacts or consequences (Dayem, 2018). Nonetheless, these consequences occur in the later within the causal chain relative to the effects of traditional weapons such as bomb’s explosion, which are associated with direct harms to humans and destruction to property.

In conclusion, responding to cyber attacks with lethal military force is justified considering that these attacks have the potential to cause damages that equates to the impacts of traditional weapons of warfare such as bombs and guns. Cyber warfare may lead to devastating consequences such as denial of a nation’s sovereignty and damage to critical infrastructure such as water and information systems.