An Assessment of International Law on the Use of Cyber-Espionage as a Substitute for Traditional Spying

Traditionally spying is an integral part of war, economic, and political sabotage among other things. In a bid to curb the incessant act of traditional spying which involves the act of physically and clandestinely crossing over to the countries where spying is to be carried out, various international conventions/instruments covering the act of traditional spying are of the moment. These include; the Hague Regulation of 1907, Vienna Convention of 1961, Geneva Conventions, United Nations Charter among others. In the same vein, Countries have enacted domestic laws to prevent the traditional spying/ clandestine acts within their territorial sovereignty. However, the 21^st-century development in the field of technology and its use for a wind range of activities which include cyber espionage have questioned the effectiveness and relevance of international conventions and domestic laws on cyber espionage.

It is against this backdrop that this article embarks on the assessment of the conventions/instruments and domestic laws on cyber espionage. Precisely, it examines the assessment of countries’ espionage laws and their relevance to cyber espionage among countries, the assessment of international law and its relevance to cyber espionage, the assessment of customary international law on cyber espionage, and recommendations.  Accordingly, it concludes that a holistic assessment of cyber espionage reveals that the applicability of extant international law to it like traditional spying is uncertain.1.