Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 26

Global Security and Intelligence Studies - Volume 2, Number 1 - Fall 2016
Anonymous Versus ISIS: The Role of Non-state Actors
in Self-defense
Andrew Colarik A & Rhys Ball B
The use of cyberspace by terrorist organizations for command and control
activities, recruitment and the dissemination of training materials is of ongoing
concern for state actors. This is especially true because the nature of
cyberspace makes efforts to limit and/or eliminate it exceedingly difficult.
With the emergence of non-state actors such as the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) openly using cyberspace to spread its ideology and activities,
other non-state actors such as the hacktivist group Anonymous have declared
their intention to attack them anywhere they find them in cyberspace. This
paper initially examines the cyberspace activities and capabilities of ISIS
and Anonymous, and their roles and relationship as non-state actors. We
then explore the notion of applying just war theory to non-state actors in
self-defense, and propose a number of likely outcomes from our analysis.
Key words: Terrorist, Cyberspace, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Anonymous,
Non-state Actor, Just War Theory
Introduction
The ultimate goal of stratagem is to make the enemy quite certain, very
decisive, and wrong.
Barton Whaley, Stratagem: Deception and Surprise in War,
1969, p.135.
I call this whole thing the rise of the chaotic actor… [but] whoever fights
monsters, should see to it that they themselves don’t become one.
Joshua Gorman in How Anonymous Hackers Changed the
World, May 2014.
The composition of actors who affect the national security of a nation-state
can be both numerous and complex. The interaction between entities such as
government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, citizen militias, media,
A
Senior Lecturer, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
B
Lecturer, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
doi: 10.18278/gsis.2.1.3
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