Cyber Warfare & International Humanitarian Law

In the course of changing scenarios with new modalities, this book reviews the issue of cyber-attacks and international law in terms of jus ad bellum, the law concerning the recourse to force by states. The book takes the view that the existing rules on the use of force, namely Article 2(4) and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and the corresponding rules of Customary and International Humanitarian Law apply to attacks regardless of the way they are carried out and thus, they apply to cyber-attacks as well. Some of the examples of different kinds of cyber-attacks are presented to illustrate the issue: the attacks against Estonia in 2007 and Stuxnet, the malware that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and was discovered in 2010. The book argues that while cyber-attacks are in a new phenomenon with certain unique aspects, they are a part of the evolution and continuum of armed conflict. The book takes a look at the different approaches (instrument-based, target-based and effects-based) in assessing the question of whether or not a cyber-attack crosses the threshold of a use of force or an armed attack. As cyber operations make it possible to cause severe economic consequences without the use of physical force, the question of economic force is discussed as well in the second chapter. The book argues that the Article 2(4) of the UN Charter does not cover the use of economic force, in the context of cyber-attacks, and an attack with such consequences may result in a reappraisal of the issue in state practice. Turning to armed attacks, the book emphasises that cyber operations may also qualify as armed attacks. Accepting the prevailing view that distinguishes between uses of force and armed attacks, the book claims that for a cyber-operation to rise to the level of armed attack, the consequences must be sufficiently grave. The book also discusses the question of pre-emptive self-defence in the context of cyber-attacks. An effort is made to understand the available laws of order and the customary practices to relate the same to current cyber warfare threats to bring into the purview of international law. The main focus is on the advent of this new warfare which throws more emphasis on the future threats and the procedures to combat the same with the potential solutions, with reference to the International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law and other international laws, framed or has to be framed in accordance with the combat, so as to stop the unexpected losses to the nations, indirectly which is to the individuals in this globalised era. Therefore, the present work is confined just to the cyber warfare and not to the whole of cyber-crimes.