![]() Once approved, regional internet registries would associate semantics with ranges of IP addresses. Such approval would most likely involve the national Red Cross organizations, as they currently oversee the use of the physical emblem. Health care facilities and humanitarian organizations would need to provide justification for receiving the digital emblem, just as they must use the physical emblem. This would build on an existing system that assigns IP addresses and would allow systems anywhere on the internet to see whether systems or communications are associated with a protected entity. A DNS-based emblem would add a visible label to the domain name (or would associate an attribute through a special record in the DNS (similar to email authentication mechanisms) to signify its status in a straightforward and easily accessible way.Īn Internet Protocol (IP) address-based emblem would apply semantics to a site’s address to designate its protected status. The domain name system (DNS) makes that conversion. When someone types a URL (such as into a web browser, that name gets converted into an IP address. This led APL to explore two primary mechanisms for a digital emblem: To simplify the emblem’s rollout, the team looked at capabilities that could be added to existing infrastructure so that network service providers could leverage known technologies rather than deploying and learning brand-new services. Principal technical leader Antonio DeSimone and research scientist Brian Haberman, both of APL’s Asymmetric Operations Sector, led APL’s research into the technical development of a digital emblem. Because the internet is a system of systems, each network service provider manages its networks as it sees fit. “In the meantime, proving the technical feasibility of such an emblem and garnering support from relevant stakeholders - including governments, internet service providers and humanitarian organizations - are essential to building a norm that recognizes the digital assets, services and data of medical and humanitarian entities should have the same legal protection in the digital world as they have in the physical one.” Marking Medical Facilities in CyberspaceĪ primary challenge with developing norms for the internet is that there is no single overarching organization responsible for its operation. “While the physical emblem is already recognized under international law, it will take some time for governments to agree to the recognition of its digital equivalent,” said Kerstin Vignard, senior security analyst in NSAD. Over time, the relevant actors agreed on responsible norms of behavior and eventually, these norms were codified as the law of the sea - an international agreement that helps to maintain order and peaceful relations on the sea. ![]() For example, governments, freight companies and seamen used to argue over fishing rights, piracy and pollution from ships. ![]() The emblem offers a small, concrete step to establish more common norms for cyber operations.”ĪPL began by looking at how other norms were established. People can grasp the idea of a digital emblem. We know it helps to have a galvanizing principle that people can get behind. “It’s hard to articulate a norm when there is not already behavior behind it. We wanted to know, could we build a norm in cyberspace to assure a more stable internet?” said Erin Hahn, managing executive in APL’s National Security Analysis Department (NSAD). In defining how a digital emblem would work, APL first addressed a much broader question. ![]() The emblem would signal their protected status. The team looked at how a digital emblem could mark and identify medical and humanitarian entities’ digital assets, services and data. APL worked with the ICRC on a two-year research effort that included global experts from academic, humanitarian and technical organizations. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, recently collaborated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to develop a technical framework to replicate the protection signaled by the ICRC’s physical emblems in the digital world. Disruptions from cyber operations have hindered relief efforts and accounted for delayed care, overmedication and increased mortality. The symbols are internationally recognized emblems of legal protection for the sick, the wounded and those who care for them in armed conflict - in the physical world.Īs humanitarian relief and health care organizations increasingly rely on computer networks to help provide care, they are also increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. The Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Crystal are displayed on hospitals and ambulances around the world. ![]()
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