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<p>There is no set definition for an act of war, cyber or otherwise.</p><p>An "act
of war" and "armed conflict" are not defined within the Geneva Conventions.
It is a matter of interpretation as to whether the threshold (within the context of
surrounding circumstances) between a skirmish and a state of armed conflict has been
crossed. Most cyber activity is criminal in nature. A key requirement to determining
if there is an armed conflict taking place would be the deliberate intervention of
members of a state's armed forces.</p><p>In determining if 'cyber' activity constitutes
an armed attack, the UK view is that cyber-attacks can be considered as armed attacks
if their consequences are essentially the same as those of a conventional kinetic
attack. For example, theft of intellectual property would generally be considered
to be a criminal act. However, if cyber-activity was performed on a scale which had
sufficiently serious consequences for a developed economy, many States - including
the UK - would likely regard this as an "armed attack".</p>
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