ABSTRACT
Without an appropriate ethical framework to support the planning and prosecution of cyber operations, there is a very real risk that the cyber equivalent of Dresden may occur with the true implications of the action not being recognised until after the terrible event. This chapter explores whether the Just War Tradition can continue to respond to this new context, and whether the current Just War principles themselves are appropriate as they are, or whether some may need adapting, interpreting differently or replacing entirely for the Tradition to remain relevant. It argues that the negative and dismissive judgements concerning the relevance of the Just War Tradition for the moral evaluation of cyber conflict rest upon a widespread but fundamental misconception of the nature of the Tradition itself. The Tradition today underpins and informs the international legal structures that govern the use of force in international affairs.
