International Law and Cyberoperations: French View

Abstract

Foreign cyberattacks and interferences are becoming more frequent and sophisticated. In the continued absence of a general consensus regarding the applicability of concrete international legal rules in the domain of cybersecurity, individual States are beginning to determine unilaterally their national positions. The article introduces and critically assesses the national strategy of France published in late 2019 in light of current international law and further developments in 2020. France confirms the validity of current international legal norms and raises challenging and innovative legal points for an efficient update such as the right to respond to any unlawful cyberoperation that targets France, right to preemptive self-defence, and violation of the due diligence principle. The mission of the article is to evaluate the document as an important source of impetus and the potential of its impact in international law of cybersecurity.