If a new Geneva convention for cyberwarfare is not yet in place, the International Criminal Court has decided to establish new rules to punish the perpetrators of cyberattacks targeting civilian structures, such as hospitals, power plants or banking establishments.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine and the increase in cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure such as power plants, hospitals or even the servers of the country’s various administrations, many cybersecurity specialists and magistrates have called for the establishment of a new version of the Geneva Convention.
The idea being to be able initiate official investigations and punish the perpetrators of these cybercrimes, as for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocides. For the moment, an update of the text is not planned, but However, the International Criminal Court in The Hague does not intend to sit idly by.
Also read: They hack a hospital and publish intimate photos of patients to get the ransom
International Criminal Court to investigate cybercrimes
In an interview published last month in Foreign Policy Analytics, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan detailed the new attributes of the institution. From now on, the ICC reserves the right to investigate any cyberattacks that may have violated the Treaty of Rome as well as any applicable international law.
“Cyber warfare is not something abstract. On the contrary, it can have a profound impact on people’s lives. Attempts to disrupt critical infrastructure, such as medical facilities or power generation control systems, can have immediate consequences for many people, especially the most vulnerable. Therefore, as part of its investigations, my office will collect and review evidence of such actions,” said Karim Khan.
As a reminder, the new intentions of the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court come as the international community is increasingly focusing on Russia’s Cyber Abuses Against Ukrainian Infrastructure before and after the invasion of the country. In March 2022, the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law sent a formal request to the ICC Prosecutor’s Office. She urged him in particular to prosecute Russian pirates for war crimes behind the cyberattacks against Ukraine.
France is also one of the victims
Let us also remember that many French hospitals have also been affected by cyberattacks and ransomware in recent years. In 2019, no fewer than 120 Ramsay group hospitals were paralyzed by ransomware, causing the de facto postponement of numerous surgical operations. In August 2022, it was the turn of the Corbeil-Essonnes hospital center to fall victim to ransomware. According to a study published in September 2021 by the IT security company Censinet, these cyberattacks increased the mortality rate by 25% within the targeted medical establishments.
Source: Wired