Cyber sanctions
Cyber sanctions are defined as the economic and financial measures intended to change the behaviors of targets using malicious cyber activities and/or intrusions. Since cyber sanctions regimes are used by countries, these instruments are used predominantly by countries.{{Cite journal|last=Moret|first=Erica|date=2017|title=The EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox: towards a cyber sanctions regime?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep06815.pdf|journal=European Union Institute for Security Studies |jstor=resrep06815}} Thus, the units of analysis are the countries in the international system. In other words, countries, rather than the non-state actors including companies, are the main actors and decision-makers when it comes to the threat and/or use of cyber sanctions at the international level. The concept of cyber sanctions is relatively new area in the world politics. Today, we have few countries took measures and enacted legislation by involving cyber-related regulation to secure their information technology. On the other hand, there are many countries, including developed countries, have not updated their legislation according to this new security area, i.e., cyber-crimes.
Origins of the concept
Cyber sanctions can be considered as an extension of the economic sanctions’ regimes. Thus, although the use of cyber sanctions and its introduction in the international relations is relatively new, the historical background of the sanctions goes deeper in the historical trajectory. First economic sanctions were used during the times of Ancient Greece, which is known as the Megarian Decree issued by the Athenian for the undesired trade behaviors of the Megarians. Later on, the economic sanctions between these two city-states because of the Megarian Decree led to the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between the Athenians and Spartans.{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=J.|title=Supplementing Thucydides' Account of the Megarian Decree.|year=1994}} Historical records show that economic power is important for the military power, and, thus, the influence of economic sanctions in world politics increased dramatically with the technological improvements since the industrial revolution that started in the 18th century. Especially with the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the use of economic sanctions increased exponentially and became the most important foreign policy instruments since the beginning of the 21st century.{{Cite book|last1=Drezner|first1=Daniel W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_7N_7hAHL4C&dq=Drezner,+D.+W.,+&pg=PR12|title=The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations|last2=Drezner|first2=Daniel W.|last3=Drezner|first3=Professor of International Politics Daniel W.|last4=W|first4=Drezner Daniel|date=1999-08-26|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-64415-0|language=en}}
Cyber sanctions
The experts have different ideas on the effectiveness of economic sanctions. This might be one of the main reasons why policymakers are skeptical for using economic sanctions for the issues related to malicious cyber activities. However, the trend shows that states are enacting some bills that consider the use of economic sanctions for cyber conflicts at the international level. The need for stability in the cyberspace requires regulations both at domestic and international levels. We can consider the legal basis for the use of sanctions for cyber activities under the United Nations Charter's Article 2.4 where it is stated that:
“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”Under the light of the UN Charter, many actors in the international system, including the European Union as an international organization, and the major EU member countries, and the United States, have already taken steps using proactive and reactive financial and economic sanctions that can even escalate to the application of military options.
= Case 1 =
The first cyber-related sanctions in the history was used the European Union in 2017 against six identified individuals who involved in malicious cyber actions against some EU institutions and especially against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is an international organization founded in 1997. The EU's response included targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel ban for these six individuals.{{Cite web|title=EU imposes the first ever sanctions against cyber-attacks|url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/07/30/eu-imposes-the-first-ever-sanctions-against-cyber-attacks/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.consilium.europa.eu|language=en}}
= Case 2 =
After detecting malign cyber activities, aiming to manipulate the U.S. industrial systems by using the Triton malware, of some Russian individuals and the relationship between these individuals and the Russian government, the United States Secretary of State released a press statement in October, 2020, that mentioned economic sanctions were imposed economic sanctions under the Section 224 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.{{Cite web|title=United States Sanctions Russian Government Research Institution|url=https://2017-2021.state.gov/united-states-sanctions-russian-government-research-institution/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=United States Department of State|language=en-US}}
Cyber sanctions by Countries
= United States =
= European Union =
The future of cyber sanctions
Economic sanctions are flexible tools that can be used for many different purposes in many ways. These characteristics of economic sanctions make their use as a viable option for the increasing threats of malicious cyber activities both at intranational and international levels. The development of events show that developed countries, especially the United States and the European Union member countries, are taking serious measures that might enable use of economic sanctions unilaterally and internationally. Unilateral cyber-related sanction are sanctions episodes where the sanctioning state is only one state. Today, we have examples for unilateral cyber-related sanctions. However, it is very rare to see multilateral cyber-related sanctions, where the senders can be either more than one state; or else, there is an international organization, such as the UN or EU, imposing cyber-related sanctions. As can be seen from the European Union Council's conclusions on the common economic sanctions strategies against cyber-attacks, the consensus on using sanctions at the international level looks difficult to achieve. However, we might see that countries can be more willing to cooperate in the future because the level of cyber threats is increasing exponentially every day beyond the international borders. As a result, countries might begin to include cyber commands-as seen in the United States, within their military structures considering the increasing possibility that cyber-related sanctions can escalate to the use of military options.
Agencies
- Office of Foreign Assets Control
- [https://www.cybercom.mil/ US Cyber Command]
- [https://www.enisa.europa.eu/ European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA)]
- [https://www.cisa.gov/ Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)]
Further reading
- Benatar, M., & Gombeer, K. (2011, May). [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1989786 Cyber sanctions: exploring a blind spot in the current legal debate]. In ESIL 2011 4th Research Forum.
- Iftimie, I. A. (2020). Cyber Sanctions: Weaponising the Embargo of Flagged Data in a Fragmented Internet. Journal of Information Warfare, 19(1), 48-IV.
- Iftimie, I. (2019, July). Cyber Sanctions: The Embargo of Flagged Data in a Geo-Cultural Internet. In European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (pp. 668-XIV). Academic Conferences International Limited.
- Miadzvetskaya, Y. (2021). Cyber sanctions: towards a European Union cyber intelligence service?. College of Europe Policy Brief series (CEPOB).
- Moret, E., & Pawlak, P. (2017). The EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox: towards a cyber sanctions regime?. European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).
- O’Connell, M. E. (2012). Cyber security without cyber war. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 17(2), 187–209.
- Peters, M. (2017). Cyber Enhanced Sanction Strategies: Do Options Exist?. Journal of Law & Cyber Warfare, 6(1), 95-154.