Re:Anonymous message to NATO
by FrankenTan on Wednesday June 08, 2011 @09:05AM
(#2632917)
If the US or Israel is responsible for Stuxnet, would that be considered an act of war towards Iran? I'm sadly not well-read in either stuxnet or the requirements for it to be considered a cyber-attack.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Not technically - international law today "allows only three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN" [1].
Iranians may construe stuxnet as an attack that they are hoping to prevent from reoccuring, and thus use the self-defense justification, but 'casus belli' must be the absolute last resort of a nation. Assuming they follow international law that is.
Another important aspect to remember is that retaliation and the use of force does not mean 'war' in and of itself.