A Brave New World: Applying International Law of War to Cyber-Attacks

Description

State and non-state actors are using international cyber-attacks with an increasing frequency and magnitude, causing new levels of damage and disruption. Despite this growing significance, the legal status of cyber-attacks in international law remains unclear. Cyber-attacks do not fit under the conventional analyses of “use of force” and “armed attacks” under the UN Charter, and no satisfactory approaches have been put forth to treat cyber-attacks. This Paper puts forth a test for whether cyber-attacks constitute a “use of force” and “armed attack” that reflects the traditional goals of the UN Charter, while taking into account the present realities of the use of cyber-attacks. Specifically, this Paper considers cyber-attacks to be an armed attack where the attack is a state’s kinetic or virtual use of force made with the intent of altering a target country’s sovereign or strategic power by significantly disrupting its military, critical, or strategic infrastructure.