Responsibility of the States and Cyber Operations

The aim of this book is to analyze the Responsibility of States in cyber activities in the context of armed conflicts. In this analysis, a study was made on the International Law of Ius ad Bellum and Ius in Bello, making a historical background, exposing the respective sources and finally presenting its fundamental principles. Then, a characterization of armed conflicts was presented, classifying it into international and non-international conflicts.
A cyber approach was made for each matter investigated, having the concepts of international armed conflict and non-international armed conflict been discussed. The analysis focused on international conventions and relevant international customs, existing jurisprudence as well as relevant doctrinal studies with particular emphasis on the 2001 Draft of Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts and the Tallinn Manual on International Law applicable to Cyber Warfare.
The investigation allowed to conclude that the International Law does not establish specific norms applied to cyber operations, reason why there is a need to resort to the Law of non-cyber conflicts. This investigation has revealed, among other things that, concerning the regime of overall control over an organized entity this is much more difficult to attain on a cyber level compared to conventional armed groups.