By Pijpers, Peter B.M.J.

From the Summary: "The Russian invasion of Ukraine, while primarily a kinetic war, saw new actors and novel activities exploiting cyberspace. Numerous non-state actors, hacker groups and commercial enterprises have entered the virtual battlespace, taking sides with one of the warring states without necessarily being belligerent entities. While states were already struggling with how to regulate activities in cyberspace, the new tropes, techniques and tactics have increased legal uncertainty. International law is based on the state, a territory, and the distinction between war and peace, while cyberspace and the activities conducted therein are not. The Russo-Ukraine war has made it clear that non-state actors such as Microsoft or Anonymous cannot be attributed to a state, and that they do not participate directly in hostilities, at least not physically. Moreover, the attributes of cyberspace have not only blurred the differences between state and non-state actors, but also transformed the dichotomy between war and peace. Not only do the challenges of how to apply international law to the new tropes, techniques and tactics in cyberspace increase differences in interpretation, but the ensuing uncertainties can be exploited, causing legal asymmetry."

European Centre Of Excellence For Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid Coe) . 2002. 20p.