Chapter 9 Cyber War and the Concept of ‘Attack’ in International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

This chapter considers the types of actions which constitute so called 'cyber attacks'. It then analyses in detail the requirements of the concept of an 'attack' generally under the existing law of armed conflict based on the definition provided in Additional Protocol I of 1977. Those requirements are then 'mapped' to the salient features of 'cyber attack' already identified, with a view to identifying the characteristics of 'cyber attacks' that render them 'attacks' under international humanitarian law (IHL). State practice as to the use of such 'cyber attacks' in situations of armed conflict is almost non-existent, the sole known example being that of the Russia-Georgia conflict in 2008. Reported examples of 'cyber attacks' from that conflict are also considered, as a concluding case study, to illustrate the operation of these principles in practice. Keywords:additional protocol I; cyber attack; cyber war; international humanitarian law (IHL); law of armed conflict