Cyber Dimension of Hybrid Wars: Escaping a 'Grey Zone' of International Law to Adress Economic Damages Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 8, 2 (2022), 115 - 120 (
The subject of the article is the international and national legal aspects of compensation for economic damages caused by cyber attacks. The purpose of the article is to contribute to the ongoing debate on attribution and liability for malicious and destructive cyber activity. Cyber attacks have become a global problem facing the international community, posing enormous risks to the stability of international security, economic and social development, and the safety and well-being of individuals. Cyber attacks have proven to be numerous problems for domestic and international law – international humanitarian law, human rights law, the law of armed conflict – how to counter the actions of hybrid warfare by legal means, what are the remedies for losses due to cyber attacks. This article examines cyber attacks to show how the international community is moving toward responsible behavior by states in cyberspace, protecting civilians and critical infrastructure. The article's methodology is based on doctrinal legal research in this area, as well as international legal instruments, in order to examine how economic damages should be paid to victims of malicious acts in cyberspace. The difficulty of attributing cyber attacks has been analyzed to show that perpetrators evade responsibility, a separate problem for international law. It is concluded that international law, as it currently stands, provides little legal basis for substantive guidance on responsible state behavior in cyberspace, the necessary levels of attribution to establish state or non-state responsibility for cyber attacks. Economic losses from cyber attacks can be covered by insurance schemes, although analysis has shown that they do not work because insurers argue that cyber attacks exclude military risk insurance clauses that exclude coverage, which is reasonable, although it leaves victims of cyber attacks without the ability to recover damages. The paper supplements current research with a comprehensive analysis of legal and economic issues and calls for the development of an appropriate strategic environment, legal and infrastructural framework. The need for a joint international framework is emphasized, as civil liability under national law is hardly possible because cyber attacks are predominantly transnational in nature. A joint structure is also needed to prevent, deter and respond to state-sponsored cyber attacks.
