With the Internet, the world has seen transnational communication, exchanges and commerce surge. The Internet has become a vital conduit for economic and social transactions.

But the world’s reliance on computer networks has given rise to various interstate conflicts and cybercrimes including the theft of intellectual properties, terrorism, vandalism and political espionage, with few established global norms, rules and principles to handle these breaches.

Amid rising concerns over the adverse impact of cyberattacks on national security, many countries have begun expanding the role of their militaries to cover the cyberdomain, defining cyberspace as the “fifth battlefield” after land, sea, air and space.

… “Cyberthreats are continuously evolving, and increasingly blurring distinctions between civil and military domains, state and nonstate actors, principal targets and weapons used,” said Michael Raska, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.