THE ESSENCE OF UKRAINE'S CYBER DEFENSE: DEFINITION AND CONTRADICTIONS OF LEGAL AND THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES

Since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s hybrid aggression in 2014, and especially after the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has become the target of large-scale cyberattacks aimed at critical infrastructure and information systems of state institutions. The available statistics of cyberattacks confirm the Russian Federation’s intentions to “capture” Ukraine’s cyberspace by any means in order to achieve a strategic advantage in an armed conflict. Accordingly, Ukraine’s tasks are to protect its own cyberspace and create conditions for active actions in the enemy’s cyberspace. The article examines the essence of Ukraine’s cyber defense in terms of fundamental definitions according to the Laws of Ukraine “On the Basic Principles of Ensuring Cybersecurity of Ukraine”, “On the Defense of Ukraine” and relevant regulatory legal acts. The analysis identifies contradictions in the theoretical and legal foundations of cyber defense, and emphasizes the lack of a clear legislative definition of the term “cyber defense”. It is emphasized that no regulatory legal act defines the structure of the state cyber defense system, the composition and tasks of the entities providing it, as well as the objects of cyber defense. Some issues are partially outlined in the draft Law on the Cyber Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however, its provisions contain discrepancies with the current legislation and consider cyber defense in a “narrow” sense. All of the above complicates the formation of state policy in the field of cyber defense, and accordingly, the implementation of the cyber defense system. Attention is focused on the need to harmonize legal and regulatory definitions from the standpoint of a systemic approach, to separate cyber defense into a separate sphere with the adoption of the basic law “On Cyber Defense of Ukraine”, which will determine the principles of state policy, ensure the harmonization of the legal field and contribute to the implementation of the state’s strategic goals in the field of cyber defense.