With a lag, the law always has difficulty regulating new things and newcircumstances which need the adjustment of law. Cyber attack is exactly a new thingemerging with the development of the internet and information technology. Comparedwith traditional attack methods and modes of operations, cyber attack presents a lot ofnew characteristics. That’s what makes the existing rules unable to apply completelyand directly to cyber attacks. Due to a number of factors, clear rules tailored for cyberattacks have not come out. This makes some gray areas in the field of cyber attacks.Through the existing cases of cyber attacks, we can see that the attack range hasbeen greatly expanded when it compared with traditional kinetic attacks. However,the devastating effect of cyber attacks is not inferior to it of kinetic attacks if theattacker wants. Furthermore, because of its characteristics such as low costs and hardto keep track of the source of attacks, cyber attack, as a new means of attack, isfavored by more and more states and non-state actors. If this kind of attacks isunrestrained, both domestic and international order will be seriously damaged.At present, there have been some rules on cyber attacks in the domestic law ofseveral countries. The international community is also seeking to establish rules oncyber attacks in international law. But this process will be very long. However, this does not mean international law can do nothing about it. Cyber attack, whether as amethod of warfare or a weapon, must abide by principles and rules of traditional lawof war. When it comes to application, we need to make existing rules meet the actualcircumstances of cyber attacks better by reinterpreting and developing them.This essay is divided into four chapters, focusing on how existing rules ofinternational law apply to cyber attacks. The first chapter briefly introduces the history,definition, characteristics and legislative situation of cyber attack, drawing forth thenecessity and significance of regulating cyber attacks. The second chapter and thethird chapter are the main part of this paper, analyzing difficulties in applying jus adbellum and jus in bello to cyber attacks in detail and putting forward thecorresponding countermeasures. It is worth mentioning that this paper also examinesthe consequences under international law of hostile cyber operations that do not riseto the level of an armed attack. The forth chapter gives an overview of China being avictim of cyber attacks, providing legislation suggestions for cybersecurity andcybercrime by combining with the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrimeand offering advices and suggestions for comprehensively promoting China’s “systemnet power”. Finally, the epilogue provides a brief summary for full-text content andindicates the expectations that the international community would formulate rules ofinternational law specifically for cyber attacks as soon as possible. |