Denmark's Defense Intelligence Service to launch cyberwarfare unit by 2017.

According to its plan, the task will be assigned to the Defense Intelligence Service (FE), and it will be the first time that the espionage agency will have the power to conduct cyberattacks, daily Jydske Vestkysten emphasizes.

The decision comes as reaction to hacker attacks against the Danish defense industry, Business and Growth Ministry, and Maritime Authority, The Local explains. Several enterprises have been targeted, too, with China seen as the main suspect.

However, the initiative to move from defense to attack in cyberwarfare has sparked debate. Experts disagree that a cyberattack could be considered equal to a military operation and if yes, then to what extent, since waging war requires the parliament’s approval.

“When we go to war, it is parliament that declares war and the military that carries it out,” Anders Henriksen, a scholar at the University of Copenhagen told Politiken.

Danish Defense Minister Nicolai Wammen is positive that cyberwarfare will not contradict the national legislation. “I am convinced that the constitutional requirement to include parliament in the given situation can be reconciled with any concerns in relation to the operation’s implementation and security,” he said as quoted by The Local.