Due diligence in the digital era: Question of attribution of international responsibility to a state

The goal of the article is to highlight the problems, existing in the field of invocation of due diligence obligations to internationally wrongful acts, committed with the use of cyberspace. The authors highlight the existing problems that could appear in the field, such as the necessity to differentiate between the more and less technically developed states due to the difference in their capabilities to exercise due diligence in respect of the cyberoperations emanating from their territory. They emphasize the need for an international cooperation in what concerns responses to cyberoperations as the mean for achieving security in the field. The authors also highlight the need for proper cyber-hygiene as a mean for prevention of malicious cyberoperations, which should be based on international cooperation. Invocation of responsibility for violation of due diligence obligations can help the injured states to have certain redress, and nowadays serve as one of the proper means for attribution of responsibility for cyber operations in breach of rights and interests of other states concerned. Finally, they submit that a proper way to respond to the violations of due diligence should be a cautious one and exercised by means of pacific settlement of disputes. In their study the authors rely on the existing practice of the international courts and tribunals, as well as on the international doctrine. Methods In course of the study, a combination of methods was implied, such as the analysis, comparative legal method, inductive, deductive, logical, interpretive, dynamic and hermeneutics method. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.