Abstract/Summary

This chapter examines international law in relation to ‘cyber disasters’. That is, it considers disasters – broadly defined as ‘calamitous events’ – that are caused by, or through, cyberspace. It assesses the extent to which international law is (or may be) able to reduce the likelihood of cyber disasters occurring. It is argued that the current ‘militarised’ approach under international law has a number of major flaws. Instead, a significantly preferable means of trying to prevent cyber disaster is to focus on a different existing rule of international law that has been largely overlooked in the cyber context: the duty of due diligence.