Right to “Self-Defense” against Cyber-attacks with an Emphasis on the Attacks of the United States of America

Subject Areas : Legal Studies of Cyberspace

Saeid Eid koshayesh ¹ (PhD student of Public International Law, Islamic Azad University, Maragheh Branch)
Hossein Sorayaii Azar ² (Law Department, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University of Iran , Maragheh Branch)
jahangir bagheri ³ (Law Department- Faculty of Humanities- Islamic Azad University of Iran - Maragheh Branch)

Received: 2022-12-21 Accepted : 2023-04-14 Published : 2023-05-14

Keywords: Cyber War, Cyber-Attacks, Self-Defense, United States Government, Safe Haven, Digital Defense,

Abstract :

Hostile actions and resorting to coercive force in the cyberspace fields are very important issues that could challenge fundamental principles of the international law. Many States consider the cyberspace as a battlefield and intend to inflict damages through it to their opponent states. United States is considered an avant-garde in these issues. The United States possess many advanced technologies in cyberspace field. In this respect, the necessity of self-defense (legitime defense) against cyber-attacks seems inevitable, although from “treaty law” point of view it lacks the basic internationally supported legislations. It remains to be clarified whether the 51th Article of the United Nations Charter could be used as a legal base for cyber self-defense or not and if that could be entitled self-defense or not. This study employs descriptive-analytical method through data analyzing system. Findings of this study indicate that in the event of a cyber-attack by a State or its agents, a cyber-self-defense could be legally justifiable provided that the legal conditions of the self-defense such as compatibility of self-defense with the attacks and some other international law principles (principle of non-use of force for example) are met, Of course, in the path of self-defense, the principle of proportionality must be observed as the main rule, and as soon as the Security Council effectively intervenes in the crisis, the defense must be terminated.