The place of the cyber warfare in the international law

The concept of "cyber warfare" has appeared as a new threat to the international peace and security since the last decades of the 20th century. Everything connected to the computer networks in the world, such as personal information, bank accounts, top – secret government data, weapon systems, and power plants are highly vulnerable to "cyber attacks". This risk makes the cyber warfare one of the most problematic areas of international relations. The rapid technological advance in computer systems and Internet enables state and non – state actors to be able to take actions in cyberspace. Their activities sometimes cause asymmetric effects which are much more than expected. In this point, how the victim states of cyber attacks protect themselves and how to respond these attacks have still remain ambiguous because of the different interpretations of international law arrangements. In order to fill this loophole, the legal status of cyber warfare must be related with the concepts of prohibition of "use of force", the exceptions of use of force, self – defense, and "armed attack" which are exist in the current international law. For this reason, in this thesis, the legal aspects of cyber warfare are examined in the light of "jus ad bellum" in international law. Keywords: Cyber Warfare, Cyber Attack, Jus ad Bellum, Use of Force, Armed Attack.