Cyber law
sachin
(Querist) 14 August 2012
This query is : Resolved
Is Cyber Attack considered an an armed attack against any nation?
Brief of the Case:
In a cyber attack done by one nation on its neighboring nation, the banking, telecommunication and transport services of that nations is virtually destroyed.
Will this act be considered as an armed attack on the neighboring nation?
If it can be considered as an armed attack, it shall be under which section?
Can the affected nation retaliate?
N.K.Assumi
(Expert) 15 August 2012
Cyber law or law governing computer and internet exist in reality and Star War is here in our Planet.Yes, the other State can retaliate with preemptive strike depending on the magnitude of the attack like that of 11/9 attacks, and when it does, the UN Charter and other International Laws regimes will take over from the realms of law governing computer and internet through domestic laws, international conventions and traditional principles of laws.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 15 August 2012
Article 51 of the UN Charter provides that: “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.”
Then if we focus on means used in such attacks we find that electronic signals imperceptible to human senses do not closely resemble bombs, bullets, or troops.
Then the idea to sell it as "armed attack"
at least in near future may not have any takers.
Trivedi Advocate
(Expert) 16 August 2012
Dear Sachin ji,
Cyber-attacks have become increasingly common in recent years. Capable of shutting down nuclear centrifuges, air defense systems, and electrical grids, cyber-attacks pose a serious threat to national security. As a result, some have suggested that cyber-attacks should be treated as acts of war. Yet the attacks look little like the armed attacks that the law of war has traditionally regulated.
Only the United States could strengthen its domestic law by giving domestic criminal laws addressing cyber-attacks extra- territorial effect and by adopting limited, internationally permissible countermeasures to combat cyber-attacks that do not rise to the level of armed attacks or that do not take place during an ongoing armed conflict.
