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International And Canadian Law Rules Applicable To Cyber Attacks By State And Non-State Actors, Matthew E. Castel

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This essay, which contains a broad ranging overview of several important issues raised by the recent number of cyber attacks in Canada and elsewhere, begins with a definition of cyberspace and cyber war. It is followed by a brief survey of some cyber attacks that have occurred in Canada and elsewhere in recent years. The first part addresses the question whether present rules of international law applicable to armed attacks using kinetic weapons apply to the wide notion of cyber attacks by a state actor against the government and critical civilian infrastructures of another state and concludes that they do. …