Cyber Operations and International Law

A comprehensive analysis of the international law applicable to cyber operations, including a systematic study of attribution, lawfulness and remedies.

François Delerue (Author)

9781108748353, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 July 2021

543 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.782 kg

'Delerue is a research fellow in cyber defense and international law at the Institute for Strategic Research … and his deep knowledge of cyber security and cyber defense and their relationship with international law is evident in the book. Delerue cogently explains difficult technical concepts in the field of cyber operations and makes these notions easily comprehensible for international lawyers. The book has many examples from real life cases of wrongful cyber operations and these examples ensure that the author's reasoning becomes more relatable … the book is an excellent academic endeavour.' Upasana Dasgupta, Asian Journal of International Law

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the international law applicable to cyber operations, including a systematic examination of attribution, lawfulness and remedies. It demonstrates the importance of countermeasures as a form of remedies and also shows the limits of international law, highlighting its limits in resolving issues related to cyber operations. There are several situations in which international law leaves the victim State of cyber operations helpless. Two main streams of limits are identified. First, in the case of cyber operations conducted by non-state actors on the behalf of a State, new technologies offer various ways to coordinate cyber operations without a high level of organization. Second, the law of State responsibility offers a range of solutions to respond to cyber operations and seek reparation, but it does not provide an answer in every case and it cannot solve the problem related to technical capabilities of the victim.

1. Does international law matter in cyberspace? Part I. Attribution: 2. Attribution to a machine or a human: a technical process
3. The question of evidence: from technical to legal attribution
4. Attribution to a state
Conclusion of Part I
Part II. The Lawfulness of Cyber Operations: 5. Internationally wrongful cyber acts: cyber operations breaching norms of international law
6. The threshold of cyber warfare: from use of cyber force to cyber armed attack
7. Circumstances precluding or attenuating the wrongfulness of unlawful cyber operations
8. Cyber operations and the principle of due diligence
Conclusion of Part II
Part III. Remedies against State-Sponsored Cyber Operations: 9. State responsibility and the consequences of an internationally wrongful cyber operation
10. Measures of self-help against state-sponsored cyber operations
Conclusion of Part III
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International humanitarian law [LBBS], Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], International relations [JPS]