Unfortunately, during the last two years, we saw quite a rise in the number of cybercrimes worldwide. Many attacks allegedly came from nation-state actors, and we observed much blame in the public media space supporting this statement. Life is indeed a challenge, and the strongest ones almost always win. Still, there is a subdue difference between being aggressive and attacking foreign countries and defending your interests and infrastructure. 

As a matter of fact, we could categorize the last couple of years as a series of standalone cyber battles, which could finally end in a fully-fledged cyberwar. And in such situations, some people start fantasizing about hiring hackers-privateers and starting a Cyber World War, where teams of the best hackers will fight each other. It sounds like an incredible plot for a sci-fi novel, but there are reasons why such actions could lead to disaster in reality:

On the diagram, you can see the standard military uses of electrical and communication equipment. Cyberwarfare privateers can use their skills to attack many targets without even going near the real battlefield
  • Global World: We live in a global village. The world is no more disconnected, and one crisis can quickly affect it. Check the COVID-19 situation, for instance. Despite its allegedly natural origin, it blocked the global economy and opened many old wounds. Now, believe me, if a worldwide cyberwar happens, we shall have much more complex problems, which could easily lead to conventional or even a nuclear, large-scale war.
  • Ethical Reasons: An old proverb states that one is to be able, another is to have the will, and the entirely different thing is to do it. Ethical hackers could start a fully-fledged cyberwar suitable for their businesses. However, I believe that cybersecurity must be more oriented to stopping criminals rather than achieving political agenda or starting conventional or nuclear wars. 
  • Willingness: Most white hat cybersecurity specialists will not act of aggression for any sum of money. As patriots, they care for the well-being of their country; however, one thing is being a patriot, another is doing destructive actions versus another country or organization. At the same time, most hackers are criminals. Working for state actors will reveal their personalities and end them in jail. These statements reduce the number of individuals willing to work, such as hacker-privateers, to a tiny number.

In conclusion, cybersecurity and hacking are not similar to conventional armies. Sure, we can use the same terminology and ever do “war” games. But essentially, the whole sector is more identical to the standard private security companies, which defend infrastructure perimeters and fight crime. The role of pentesting companies is to test these defenses acting like criminals. Everything other than that should be categorized as cyber warfare and be forbidden.