Description
An increasing number of states use direct public political attribution to call out inappropriate behavior in cyberspace attributable to another state. Shared understandings about conducting and communicating political attribution practices are essential to avoid misunderstandings and mitigate the risk of potential escalation between states. Their importance has also been acknowledged by states at the UN level in the context of the 2015 UN GGE cyber norms, albeit only in unspecific terms. References to attribution in the GGE reports thus leave ample room for practical interpretation by states. This paper takes UN GGE norm (b) as a starting point to examine concrete individual and collective attribution practices of a selection of focus countries. It will explore and compare national attribution processes and policies in place, as well as specific attributions of past cyber operations. This analysis of established and emerging state practice will permit new insights into how States currently perceive the respective normative framework, that is, formalized cyber norms, and conclusions as to what extent the observed State practice gives rise to new shared understandings about appropriate state behavior - practiced cyber norms - when it comes to direct public political attribution of cyber operations.
