Scenario 21: Misattribution caused by deception

__NUMBEREDHEADINGS__

A State launches a cyber operation against another State but orchestrates the attack in a way that points towards a third country as the wrongdoer. The victim State launches retaliatory measures against the alleged wrongdoer. The legal analysis of this scenario examines legal responsibility for cyber retaliation directed against the wrong target due to misattribution. It also assesses whether a mistake of fact can alleviate international responsibility of the responding State towards the victim State.

Keywords
Deception, mistake of fact, misattribution, evidence, countermeasures, international responsibility

Facts
[F1]

Legal analysis
For a general overview of the structure of analysis in this section, see Note on the structure of articles.

[L1]