Cyber Attacks from the Perspective of the Use of Force Stipulated Under International Law

One of the most important issues of the international community has been the use of force and the changes and evolutions it has underwent. The use of force is one of the important rules of international law, which is mentioned in paragraph 4 of the Article 2 of the UN Charter. With the comprehensive growth and development of societies, the concept of resorting to force has changed and new dimensions have been created and new methods have been used by governments. One of these methods is cyberattacks. A cyberattack is an example of a new weapon the ability of which to damage, kill and physically destroy in cyberspace, has changed the concept of the use of force. In this study, the aim is to investigate cybercrime and cyberspace to clarify the nature of cyberattacks and the relationship between these attacks and the use of force. This research has achieved its results using descriptive-analytical method. It has been found out that the development of the field of communication has led to the spread of new attacks which occur in cyberspace and, because of the unique features that these attacks have, governments are very much willing in using these attacks. Furthermore, when these attacks are carried out on a large scale and target the vital infrastructure of the country the use of force has taken place indeed and that it makes no difference whether these infrastructures are damaged or not. The mere cyber-attack on these infrastructures is the use of force and is in conflict with the Principle of Prohibition of the Use of Force contained under paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the UN Charter. Cyber-attacks can be considered as resorting to force according to this article.