Responses to major cyber-attacks diverge because states securitize the concepts of territory, borders, and sovereignty in cyberspace differently. By adopting a framework of critical geopolitics and...Show moreResponses to major cyber-attacks diverge because states securitize the concepts of territory, borders, and sovereignty in cyberspace differently. By adopting a framework of critical geopolitics and securitization theory, this paper explores the influence of geographical assumptions on states’ responses to major cyber-attacks. It argues that a state’s view on the applicability of territory, borders, and sovereignty in cyberspace, provides the state with a rationale for a specific response to a major cyber-attack. This argument is made through case studies of the Estonian response to the 2007 DDoS attacks against Estonia, the U.S. response to the Sony Pictures hack, and the U.K. response to the Wannacry ransomware attack that severely affected the NHS.Show less
