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På gränsen till ett osynligt krig - en undersökning av våldsförbudets gränser i förhållande till cyberoperationer

Link, Sara LU (2022) LAGF03 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Samhället går mot en ökad digitalisering vilket trots många fördelar innebär större sårbarhet och fler risker. Därför har cybersäkerhet fått en större betydelse men gränserna för vad som är tillåtet är oklart. Cyberoperationer är handlingar som företas i en virtuell verklighet vilken kallas cyberrymden. Om handlingarna har offensiva inslag och utnyttjar andra staters svagheter kallas de för offensiva cyberoperationer.

Dock är cyberoperationer inte specifikt reglerade i folkrätt vilket skapar oklarheter. Stater är överens om att folkrätt och särskilt FN-stadgan är tillämplig men detta är ett generellt regelverk som inte är anpassat till cyberoperationers särskilda karaktär. En av de centrala reglerna som sätter gränser för... (More)
Samhället går mot en ökad digitalisering vilket trots många fördelar innebär större sårbarhet och fler risker. Därför har cybersäkerhet fått en större betydelse men gränserna för vad som är tillåtet är oklart. Cyberoperationer är handlingar som företas i en virtuell verklighet vilken kallas cyberrymden. Om handlingarna har offensiva inslag och utnyttjar andra staters svagheter kallas de för offensiva cyberoperationer.

Dock är cyberoperationer inte specifikt reglerade i folkrätt vilket skapar oklarheter. Stater är överens om att folkrätt och särskilt FN-stadgan är tillämplig men detta är ett generellt regelverk som inte är anpassat till cyberoperationers särskilda karaktär. En av de centrala reglerna som sätter gränser för cyberoperationer är våldsförbudet. En handling strider mot våldsförbudet om den uppnår bruk av våld. För att applicera våldsförbudet på cyberoperationer ska hänsyn tas till skala och effekt på handlingens konsekvenser. Bedömningen görs i det enskilda fallet utifrån tre olika tillvägagångssätt: målbaserat, instrumentbaserat eller konsekvensbaserat. Det lämpligaste tillvägagångssättet anses vara konsekvensbaserat eftersom det ger en heltäckande bild och tar hänsyn till fler faktorer. Uppsatsen undersöker därefter om tre verkliga fall anses nå upp till bruk av våld och därmed är i strid med våldsförbudet.

Våldsförbudet är i sig otydligt vilket gör att det inte går att konstatera vilka förutsättningar som ska vara uppfyllda för att tillåta offensiva cyberoperationer. Däremot kan konstateras att det allvarligaste offensiva cyberoperationerna, som berövar människoliv eller orsakar skador på fysiska objekt, alltid strider mot våldsförbudet. Det visar att det finns ett tak på hur allvarlig skada en cyberoperation tillåts orsaka. Dock förblir gränsområdet oklart eftersom det är möjligt att en cyberoperation som inte orsakar fysisk skada strider mot våldsförbudet utifrån en helhetsbedömning. (Less)
Abstract
Society becomes increasingly digitalized, which despite many advantages entails greater vulnerability and more risks. Therefore, the importance of cybersecurity has increased but the limitation of cyber operations is unclear. Cyber operations are actions performed in a virtual reality called cyberspace. If these actions have offensive elements and exploit other states’ weaknesses, they are referred to as offensive cyber operations.

However, there are no ad hoc regulations regarding cyber operations which creates ambiguities. States agree that international law, in particular The Charter of the United Nations, is applicable. Nevertheless, these are general regulations which are not adapted to the specific nature of cyber operations. The... (More)
Society becomes increasingly digitalized, which despite many advantages entails greater vulnerability and more risks. Therefore, the importance of cybersecurity has increased but the limitation of cyber operations is unclear. Cyber operations are actions performed in a virtual reality called cyberspace. If these actions have offensive elements and exploit other states’ weaknesses, they are referred to as offensive cyber operations.

However, there are no ad hoc regulations regarding cyber operations which creates ambiguities. States agree that international law, in particular The Charter of the United Nations, is applicable. Nevertheless, these are general regulations which are not adapted to the specific nature of cyber operations. The prohibition of use of force is a cornerstone in international law which limits the use of cyber operations. If an action reaches the level of use of force it constitutes a breach of the prohibition of use of force. To apply the prohibition of use of force to cyber operations, the ‘scale and effects’ that the actions cause must be considered. An assessment is made in the individual case based on one of three different approaches: target-based, instrument-based or consequence-based. The most appropriate approach is the consequence-based as it provides a comprehensive analysis and takes more factors into account. Based thereon, the thesis examines whether three real cases are considered to reach use of force and thus would be in conflict with the prohibition of use of force.

The prohibition of use of force is in itself unclear. This means it is not possible to establish which conditions must be fulfilled to allow offensive cyber operations. Nevertheless, it is established that the most serious offensive cyber operations, which kill persons or cause physical damage to objects, always violate the prohibition of use of force. Thus, there is a limit to how destructive a cyber operation is allowed to be. However, the borderland remains unclear since it is possible that a cyber operation that does not cause physical harm breaches the prohibition of use of force based on an overall assessment. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Link, Sara LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
folkrätt, IT-rätt, cyberoperationer, våldsförbudet, use of force
language
Swedish
id
9080880
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 10:49:30
date last changed
2022-06-28 10:49:30
@misc{9080880,
  abstract     = {{Society becomes increasingly digitalized, which despite many advantages entails greater vulnerability and more risks. Therefore, the importance of cybersecurity has increased but the limitation of cyber operations is unclear. Cyber operations are actions performed in a virtual reality called cyberspace. If these actions have offensive elements and exploit other states’ weaknesses, they are referred to as offensive cyber operations. 

However, there are no ad hoc regulations regarding cyber operations which creates ambiguities. States agree that international law, in particular The Charter of the United Nations, is applicable. Nevertheless, these are general regulations which are not adapted to the specific nature of cyber operations. The prohibition of use of force is a cornerstone in international law which limits the use of cyber operations. If an action reaches the level of use of force it constitutes a breach of the prohibition of use of force. To apply the prohibition of use of force to cyber operations, the ‘scale and effects’ that the actions cause must be considered. An assessment is made in the individual case based on one of three different approaches: target-based, instrument-based or consequence-based. The most appropriate approach is the consequence-based as it provides a comprehensive analysis and takes more factors into account. Based thereon, the thesis examines whether three real cases are considered to reach use of force and thus would be in conflict with the prohibition of use of force.

The prohibition of use of force is in itself unclear. This means it is not possible to establish which conditions must be fulfilled to allow offensive cyber operations. Nevertheless, it is established that the most serious offensive cyber operations, which kill persons or cause physical damage to objects, always violate the prohibition of use of force. Thus, there is a limit to how destructive a cyber operation is allowed to be. However, the borderland remains unclear since it is possible that a cyber operation that does not cause physical harm breaches the prohibition of use of force based on an overall assessment.}},
  author       = {{Link, Sara}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{På gränsen till ett osynligt krig - en undersökning av våldsförbudets gränser i förhållande till cyberoperationer}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}