"Johns Hopkins APL Designs Framework for a Digital Red Cross"
In the physical world, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and Red Crystal displayed on hospitals and ambulances across the globe are internationally recognized symbols of legal protection for the sick, the wounded, and those who care for them during armed conflict. Humanitarian relief and healthcare organizations are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks as they rely more on computer networks to provide care. Malicious cyber operations have disrupted relief efforts and contributed to delayed care, overmedication, and increased mortality. Therefore, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, collaborated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to create a technical framework to replicate the protection signaled by the ICRC's physical emblems in the digital realm. APL teamed up with the ICRC on a two-year research project involving experts from academic, humanitarian, and technical organizations. The team examined how a digital emblem could mark and identify medical and humanitarian organizations' digital assets, services, and data. The emblem would show their status as protected. The emblem's widespread visibility would enable more people to participate in its protection by design. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor network traffic already. If protected parties are marked publicly, providers can more easily identify malicious traffic aimed at protected sites. If the digital emblem were to be incorporated into the international humanitarian legal framework, it would afford legal protection against cyberattacks. This article continues to discuss the technical framework developed to replicate the protection signaled by the ICRC's physical emblems in the digital world and how a digital emblem would work in the protection of medical and humanitarian entities against cyberattacks.