Cybercrime & cyberwarfare: Two birds of a feather?

• In Event: Emerging Crimes: The Challenges that the Criminal Justice System Faces Today

Abstract

The contemporary distinction between war and crime is challenged in cyberspace. Unlike the traditional Western separation of external and internal security responsibilities—handled by armed forces and police, respectively—cyberspace sees nation-states operating alongside and deploying cybercriminals. This challenges the governance of security in the digital world, questioning our contemporary understanding of pillarized security concepts. An operational distinction between the internal and external dimensions is necessary to gain insights into the possible governance of cyberspace. Therefore, an analytical framework will be presented to distinguish cybercrime from cyber warfare. As such, it provides the foundation for further research on the cybercrime-cyberwarfare nexus, in particular to help explain activities committed by cyber mercenaries, and the realm of the governance applicable.

Author

• Celien De Stercke, Ghent University, Belgium