Countering Cyberattacks: Gaps in International Law and Prospects for Overcoming them

Objective: to categorize cyber attacks in the national and international legal sytems and to define legal measures to counter them at the international level. Methods : include doctrinal legal analysis, formal legal, comparative legal methods, synthesis, induction, deduction, as well as methods of legal forecasting and modeling. International legal documents and acts of national legislation, judicial precedents, and doctrinal sources were studied. Results : the article defines the legal consequences of cyberattacks, identifies difficulties in determining and holding individuals and organizations accountable for their commission, identifies national measures to counter cyberattacks based on the principle of proportionality, and systematizes the international legal framework for responding to cyberattacks. The main focus is on the urgent problems of identifying and verifying cyber weapons, establishing international standards for their use, developing methods of disarmament or limiting offensive cyber capabilities. The authors raise the issue of ensuring humanitarian activities, protecting critical infrastructure and the population through cybersecurity measures in wartime. The legal framework is analyzed; gaps and other defects are identified in the current regulation of exercising jurisdiction in such areas of cyber activity as international transactions, data localization and extraterritorial enforcement of national legislation. The parameters were developed and described within which states may conduct proactive cyber operations to prevent or deter cyberattacks (cyber countermeasures). The main parameters are due diligence, legal decisions on using cyber countermeasures, proportionality of protection measures to the consequences of illegal actions. Scientific novelty : this is due to the progressive solutions in the field of international legal regulation of cyber countermeasures by states responding to cybercrime. The solutions are formulated taking into account the impact of the countermeasures on human and civil rights and freedoms, including the right to privacy and freedom of speech. Practical significance : the research results can be used to develop and improve international legal instruments in the field of combating cyberattacks and ensuring cybersecurity, and can serve as a model for national legislators when designing law-making solutions to counter cybercrime.