Use of Force in Cyberspace

There are presently no internationally accepted criteria for determining whether a nation-state cyberattack is a use of force equivalent to an armed attack, which could trigger a military response. Likewise, no international, legally binding instruments have yet been drafted explicitly to regulate inter-state relations in cyberspace. Self-defense and countermeasures for armed attacks are permitted in international law when a belligerent violates international law during peacetime or violates the law of armed conflict during wartime.