Legal implications of territorial sovereignty in cyberspace

Abstract

The principle of territorial sovereignty applies to cyberspace and it protects the cyber infrastructure located within a State's territory. States are prohibited to interfere with the cyber infrastructure located in the territory of another State. This certainly holds true if the conduct is attributable and if it inflicts (severe) damage on the integrity or functionality of foreign cyber infrastructure. Moreover, States have the obligation not to allow knowingly their territory to be used for acts that violate the territorial sovereignty of another State. It is, however, unsettled whether there is a rebuttable presumption of knowledge if the cyber attacks were launched from the government cyber infrastructure of the State of origin.