Red Cross unveils a digital emblem prototype to protect humanitarian and medical systems from cyberattacks during conflicts
MEYRIN: The Red Cross launched a prototype Thursday for a new “digital emblem”, meant to extend the protective character of the organisation’s symbols to online environments.
When Red Cross staff work in conflict zones, their red-and-white emblems signal that they and those they are helping should not be targeted.
But with warfare and attacks increasingly moving online, the organisation has since 2020 been mulling the idea of a digital emblem that would alert would-be attackers that they have entered computer systems of the Red Cross or medical facilities.
At an event held at Europe’s physics lab CERN near Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had taken an “important step” in the journey towards a functioning digital emblem, presenting a prototype that will now undergo real-world testing and work towards standardisation.
“For more than 160 years, the red cross, the red crescent and, more recently, the red crystal emblems have carried a simple message in the midst of war: this person, this vehicle, this building is protected. Respect them. Protect them. Do not attack them,” ICRC Director-General Pierre Krahenbuhl told the gathering.
Devastating
“As armed conflict evolves, the protections provided by international humanitarian law must remain recognisable wherever the risks arise: on the ground, at sea, in the air, and yes, in the digital environment,” he said, insisting that the consequences of cyberattacks can be devastating.
“Medical treatment is delayed. Ambulances cannot be dispatched… Aid cannot reach those who need it. People suffer and lives may be lost.”
Dubbed the Authentic Digital Emblem (ADEM), the prototype was developed in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, with the aim of inserting the emblem into the code of an internet protocol.
“It’s a code that tells a cyber operator this is protected digital infrastructure,” Samit D’Cunha, an ICRC thematic legal adviser, told reporters recently.
He explained that the emblem used cryptographic certificates for authentication to ensure it is only used for digital humanitarian and health infrastructure.
During Thursday’s demonstration, D’Cunha posed as the chief information officer at a fictitious hospital, showing how he could generate a cryptographic key to create and sign an emblem and detail what assets it should cover.
Mauro Vignati, ICRC’s digital emblem technical lead, then posed as a malicious actor searching for vulnerabilities who comes across the hospital’s website.
Since ADEM is easily visible within the code, “I refrain”, he said.
‘Visualises’ protection
Cordula Droege, head of ICRC’s international law division, stressed to AFP that “cyber operations are subject to the same prohibitions that exist in international law” banning attacks on civilian objects, and in particular medical facilities in armed conflict.
The new digital emblem, like a physical one, thus does not bestow protection on such objects, but “visualises it”, she said.
While states can decide to ignore the digital emblem, as some do with the physical emblems, Droege insisted that “the great majority of states do want to respect international law”, and will welcome an emblem that helps them avoid violations.
It could still take years for the digital emblem to become a reality.
The prototype will now undergo testing “under realistic conditions”, including by states, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and tech companies.
Technical standards will also need to be developed to allow the emblem to be trusted globally, before the ICRC moves to have it legally incorporated in the Geneva Conventions.
