Data Centers Are War Targets Now

Ukrainian drones struck Russia's largest data center on Wednesday, marking the fourth such attack on Russian data centers in a week. This incident underscores the evolving nature of warfare, where data centers are now recognized as valuable targets for adversaries. In 2006, British economist Clive Humby proclaimed "data is the new oil," and the tech industry has since embraced this metaphor.

However, the darker side of this truism has become apparent. Not only are oil refineries valuable targets, but so too are the facilities where data is processed.

This pattern is not exclusive to the Russia-Ukraine conflict; it has also been observed in Iran's retaliation against Amazon Web Services data centers in Dubai following American strikes on Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strikes on Russian data centers and oil refineries, labeling them as a "symmetrical response to Russian aggression."

The strikes on Yandex, Russia's Google-equivalent, have disrupted internet and communications across the country, severely impacting everyday life for Russians. These attacks are part of a broader trend of strikes on data centers this year, with Russia targeting Ukrainian data centers and Iran targeting AWS data centers in Dubai.

International law surrounding the targeting of data centers remains unclear, as they are often dual-use facilities housing both civilian and military data. While attacks on data centers using military data could be considered lawful targets, many data centers are not exclusively used for military purposes. The civilian population suffers the most when data centers go offline, disrupting essential services such as hospitals, traffic systems, and judicial services.

The attacks on data centers have raised questions about the proportionality of such actions and the need for clearer international law to address this emerging threat to civilian infrastructure.