The Challenge of Cyber Attacks in the “Information Age” and the Jus Ad Bellum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21928/juhd.v5n2y2019.pp79-89Keywords:
International Law,, Cyber Attack, Use of Force, Self-defense, Armed AttackAbstract
The present paper examines the problem of cyber-attacks under existing international law. It takes the view that the (United Nations) UN Charter provisions on the use of force can be extended to cyber-attacks by means of interpretation although the relevant provisions do not explicitly address such issue. This Article argues that cyber-attacks resulting in material damage or destruction to property, death or injury to persons, or severe disruption of the functioning of critical infrastructures can be characterized as use of armed force and therefore violate the prohibition contained in article 2(4) of the Charter. However, cyber-attacks not resulting in the above consequences may be illegal intervention in the internal affairs of other states if such attacks are coercive in nature. In addition, the current study discusses that a cyber-attack which amounts to a use of armed force per se is not sufficient to give the victim state the right to self-defense, unless its scale and effects are equivalent to those of a conventional armed attack. Finally, the study concludes that an international cyber treaty is truly necessary to more effectively address cyber-attacks.
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Tikk E (2008), ‘Cyber Attacks Against Georgia: Legal Lessons Identified’ Retrieved from http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/isec/files/Georgia-Cyber-Attack-NATO-Aug-2008.pdf
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Waxman M, 'Cyber-attacks and the Use of Force: Back to the Future of Article 2(4)', (2011) 36 (2) Yale Journal of International Law
Waxman M,‘Self-Defensive Force against Cyber Attacks: Legal, Strategic and Political Dimensions’, (2013) 89 International Law Studies
White house, National Security Strategy (2010)
Zemanek K, ‘Armed attack’, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Vol I (2012)
Addicott J, “Cyberterrorism: Legal Policy Issues,” in John Moore and Robert Turner (eds,) Legal Issues in the Struggle against Terrorism, (Carolina Academic Press 2010)
AIV/CAVV (2011), Cyber Warfare, No 77, AIV/No 22 CAVV. Retrieved from https://aiv-advies.nl/download/da5c7827-87f5-451a-a7fe-0aacb8d302c3.pdf
Brownlie I, International Law and the Use of Force between States (OUP 1963)
Buchan R, ‘Cyber Attacks: Unlawful Uses of Force or Prohibited Interventions?’, (2012) 17 (2) Journal of Conflict and Security Law
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Military Strategy for Cyberspace Operations (2006)
Conforti B, The Law and Practice of the United Nations (Martinus Nijhoff 2005)
Constantinou A, The Right of Self-defense under Customary International Law and Article 51 of the UN Charter (Bruylant 2000)
Dinstein Y, War, Aggression and Self-defense (4tn edn, CUP 2005)
Dispute Regarding Navigational and Related Rights (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), Judgment 13 July 2009, para 66.
Eriksen T (2015), ‘When do cyber operations amount to use of force and armed attack, and what response will they justify?’. Retrieved from https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/50840/723.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Garner B(ed), Black’s Law Dictionary (9th edn, West 2009)
Garraway C, ‘The Use and Abuse of Military Manuals’, in Avril McDonald (ed) Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law Vol. 7 (Asser Press 2004),
Gervais M, ‘Cyber Attacks and the Laws of War’, (2012) 30 (2) Berkeley J. Int'l Law,
Hathaway, Crootof, Levit, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue and Spiegel 'The Law of Cyber-Attack', (2012) 100 (4) California Law Review
Heinegg W, ‘Territorial Sovereignty and Neutrality in Cyberspace’ (2013) 89 International Law Studies
HM Government, A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy (2010)
Hollis D, 'Why states need an international law for information operations' (2007) 11 (4) Lewis & Clark Law Review
Holmberg E (2015), ‘Armed Attacks in Cyberspace’. Retrieved from http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:854660/FULLTEXT01.pdf
International Group of Experts, Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, in Michael N. Schmitt( ed.) (CUP 2010)
Janev Mand Aleksoski S, 'Use of Force in Self-Defense Against Cyber-Attacks', (2013) 4 (14) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
Kilovaty I, 'Cyber Warfare and the Jus Ad Bellum Challenges: Evaluation in the Light of the Tallinn Manual' (2014) 5 (1) National Security Law Brief
Kittrich J, The Right of Individual Self-Defense in Public International Law (Berlin GmbH 2008)
Klamberg M, 'Exploiting legal thresholds, fault-lines and gaps in the context of remote warfare, in Jens Ohlin (ed,) Research Handbook on Remote Warfare, (Edward Elgar Publishing 2017)
Koh H (2012), ‘International Law in Cyberspace’, Speech at the USCYBERCOM Inter-Agency Legal Conference. Retrieved from http://opiniojuris.org/2012/09/19/harold-koh-on-international-law-in-cyberspace
Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) [Advisory Opinion] [1971 ] ICJ Rep
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons [Advisory Opinion] [1996 ] ICJ Rep
Lin H, ‘Offensive Cyber Operations and the Use of Force’, (2010) 4 Journal of National Security Law and Policy
Melzer N, Cyberwarfare and International Law, (UNDIR Resources 2011)
Memorandum for Chiefs of the Military Services, Commanders of the Combatant Commands, Directors of the Joint Staff Directorates, Joint Terminology for Cyberspace Operations (2010)
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v US) (Merits) [1986 ] ICJ Rep 14
Moore S, 'Cyber Attacks and the Beginnings of an International Cyber Treaty' (2013) 39 (1) N.C. J. INT'L L. & COM. REG
Mousavian S, The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir (Brookings 2012)
NATO 2010, Active Engagement, Modern Defence. Strategic Concept for the Defence and Security of the Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Retrieved from http://www.nato.int/cps/en/ natolive/official_texts_68580.htm
North Sea Continental Shelf, [1969] ICJ Rep
Oil Platforms (Iran v US) [2003] ICJ Rep
Randelzhofer A & Nolte G, ‘Article 51’ in Bruno Simma, Hermann Mosler, Andreas Paulus & EleniChaitidou (eds), The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary (3rd edn, OUP 2013)
Report of the ILC, Fifty-third Session, UN Doc. A/56/10 (2001)
Roscini M, “World Wide Warfare – Jus ad bellum and the Use of Cyber Force”, in A von Bogdandy & R.Wolfrum (eds,)Max Planck YUNL Vol 14 (Brill 2010)
Roscini M, Cyber Operations and the Use of Force in International Law, (OUP 2014)
Ruys T, Armed Attack and Article 51 of the UN Charter (CUP 2010)
Schmitt M, 'Computer Network Attack and the Use of Force in International Law: Thoughts on a Normative Framework' (1999) 37, Columbia Journal of International Law
Silver D, ‘Computer Network Attack as a Use of Force Under Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter’ (2002) 57 International Law Studies
Stone J, ‘Non Liquet and the Function of Law in the International Community’, BYIL Vol. 35 (1959)
The Observer (2010), ‘Britain fends off flood of foreign cyber-attacks’. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/07/britain-fends-off-cyber-attacks
Tikk E (2008), ‘Cyber Attacks Against Georgia: Legal Lessons Identified’ Retrieved from http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/isec/files/Georgia-Cyber-Attack-NATO-Aug-2008.pdf
UK Ministry of Defence, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict (OUP 2004)
UN Charter 1945
UNGA Doc. A/66/152 (2011)
UNGA Doc. A/68/98 (2013)
UNGA Res. 3314 (XXIX) “Definition of Aggression” (14 December 1974)
UNSC Res. 1368 (2001)
UNSC Res. 1373 (2001)
US Department of Defense (1999), ‘An Assessment of International Legal Issues in Information Operations’. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dod-io-legal/dod-io-legal.pdf
US Department of Navy (2017), The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations. Retrieved from http://www.jag.navy.mil/distrib/instructions/CDRs_HB_on_Law_of_Naval_Operations_AUG17.pdf
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969
Waxman M, 'Cyber-attacks and the Use of Force: Back to the Future of Article 2(4)', (2011) 36 (2) Yale Journal of International Law
Waxman M,‘Self-Defensive Force against Cyber Attacks: Legal, Strategic and Political Dimensions’, (2013) 89 International Law Studies
White house, National Security Strategy (2010)
Zemanek K, ‘Armed attack’, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Vol I (2012)
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Published
2019-06-11
How to Cite
Qader, P. M. (2019). The Challenge of Cyber Attacks in the “Information Age” and the Jus Ad Bellum. Journal of University of Human Development, 5(2), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.21928/juhd.v5n2y2019.pp79-89
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