Cyber attack and the principle of the prohibition of the use of force under international law

Abstract

In the application of fundamental principles of international law, the paper argues that cyber attack may amount to the use of force, resulting in cyber war and serious consequences in international relations. However, there exist a number of controversial issues in need of further research, inter alia, assessment of damages resulted from cyber attack, classification of cyber attack forms. On that basis, the paper analyses the current context of cyber security in Vietnam and canvasses that Vietnam should view cyber attack as potential violation of the principle of the prohibition of the use of force under international law.