1 Preprint from http://rosariataddeo.net This is a preprint version of an article accepted for publication in APA Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers Information warfare: the ontological and regulatory gap* Mariarosaria Taddeo Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK m.taddeo@warwick.ac.uk 1. Introduction In his 1985 paper “What is Computer Ethics?” Moor discussed the changes that the information revolution was prompting as well as the relevance and the need for conceptual analysis addressing such changes. In his words: “although a problem … may seem clear initially, a little reflection reveals a conceptual muddle. What is needed in such cases is an analysis which provides a coherent conceptual framework within which to formulate a policy for action” ((Moor 1985), emphasis added). Almost three decades later, with contemporary societies turning into information societies, the policy vacuum and the conceptual muddle underpinning it have become not just evident but pressing issues to be solved. Understanding and regulating privacy, anonymity, as well as security and well-being in the information age have become crucial to the existence and functioning of our societies and the well-being of their citizens. Information warfare (IW) is one of the most compelling cases to be addressed. Historically, technological breakthroughs determine changes affecting the structure of both civil society and military organisations. As described by Toffler and Toffler (Toffler and Toffler 1997), this was the case with the Neolithic revolution, when human beings first made weapons out of wood and rocks, and with the industrial revolution, which provided the means for industrialised warfare and for the dissemination of weapons of mass destruction. The information revolution is the latest example. It has changed our activities in several ways and at several levels (L. Floridi 2014). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have reshaped social interactions; they provide new tools for the management of information and bureaucracy; and when considered with respect to warfare, ICTs determine the latest revolution in military affairs, making IW the warfare of the information age. IW raises a number of ethical and regulatory problems, all of which rest on a key feature, namely its transversality (M. Taddeo 2012). IW may arise and target physical as