Cyber Primer

Fundamentals of cyber
achieve the complete or partial submission of the enemy at the
earliest possible moment with the minimum expenditure of life and
resources.
b. Distinction. Attacks must only be directed against military
objectives; civilians and civilian objects must not be attacked.
Military objectives are those objects that by their nature, location,
purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action
and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralisation,
in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military
advantage. 15
c. Proportionality. An action is proportionate when it does not
cause incidental civilian harm which is excessive in relation to the
concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
d. Humanity. The infliction of superfluous injury or unnecessary
suffering is prohibited.
1A.8. Methods of war and protections. The laws governing means and
methods of war and protections apply equally to cyber activity, as they
would traditional methods of warfare. Two examples are listed below but
they are not intended to be definitive of the applicable rules.
a. Acts or threats of violence with a primary purpose to spread
terror among the civilian population are prohibited.
b. Attacks against installations containing dangerous forces,
namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations are
prohibited if attacks may cause the release of dangerous forces and
consequent severe losses among the civilian population. Other
military objectives located at, or in the vicinity of, these works or
installations shall not be made the object of attack if such an attack
may cause the release of dangerous forces.
15 Targeting can be challenging in cyber operations due to the potential dual use nature
of some targets, such as infrastructure.
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Cyber Primer (2nd Edition)