The Devil is in the Details: An Examination of Hybrid Cyber Operations and International Law

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues surrounding the classification of cyber “uses of force” and the inherent problem of cyber attribution. These two issues form a two-pronged dilemma in terms of applying jus ad bellum legal justifications for self-defence when a nation has been the victim of hybrid cyber operations. In particular, this two-pronged dilemma will highlight how hybrid cyber operations undermine the traditional deterrent value of conventional military power. Once this is made clear, it will become evident how the perpetrators of hybrid cyber operations are able to exploit loopholes within contemporary international law and operate with seeming impunity.