The Obligation of Digital Service Operators to Counter Cyberattacks: A Private Law Perspective

The paper examines the impact of computer attacks on contractual relationships concerning the provision of digital services between service operators and their customers (users). The author identifies and substantiates a trend in Russian legislation towards imposing on digital service operators a duty to counter computer attacks. Six legally significant characteristics of such attacks are formulated, which affect their assessment in the context of civil liability for breaches of obligations caused thereby. The paper reviews doctrinal and judicial approaches to the classification of cyber‑attacks as force majeure and substantiates the desirability of a differentiated approach depending on the intensity (severity) of the attack. Based on an analysis of the application of contractual limitations of liability in the event of computer attacks, it is proposed that public law rules establishing information‑security requirements for digital services be taken into account as criteria for determining the applicable standard of due care expected of a digital service operator when providing services to third parties. Particular attention is given to the cybersecurity obligations of operators of digital services related to the issuance and exchange of digital financial assets, as well as operators of digital intermediary platforms for goods (marketplaces).

1. Baybak V. V. Nepreodolimaya sila (fors‑mazhor) kak osnovanie osvobozhdeniya ot dogovornoy otvetstvennosti (sravnitelno‑pravovoy ocherk) // Zakon. — 2025. — № 6. — S. 166–180.

2. Gosudarstvo, obshchestvo i lichnost: puti preodoleniya vyzovov i ugroz v informatsionnoy sfere: monografiya / N. S. Volkova, A. A. Efremov, S. M. Zyryanov [i dr.]; otv. red. L. K. Tereshchenko. — M.: Infotropik Media, 2024. — 352 s.

3. Dadalko V. A., Blagodarov D. N. Vliyanie bezopasnosti internet‑bankinga na konkurentosposobnost banka // Mezhdunarodnoe publichnoe i chastnoe pravo. — 2013. — № 4. — S. 19–22.

4. Zhizhina M. V., Zavyalova D. V. Lichnost subekta prestupleniy v sfere kompyuternoy informatsii kak sistemoobrazuyushchiy element kriminalisticheskoy kharakteristiki (po materialam rossiyskikh i zarubezhnykh istochnikov) // Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava. — 2022. — T. 17. — № 5. — S. 149–158.

5. Zubarev N. S. Oferta kak instrument pravovogo regulirovaniya predprinimatelskoy deyatelnosti s ispolzovaniem marketpleysov: opyt «Ozona» i «Vayldberriz» // Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava. — 2025. — T. 20. — № 6. — S. 86–96.

6. Kudinov V. V., Minaev A. V. Kiberterrorizm: osnovnye ugrozy i problemy pravovogo regulirovaniya natsionalnoy bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii // Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipalnoe pravo. — 2022. — № 4. — S. 53–56.

7. Kurbatov A. Ya. Obstoyatelstva nepreodolimoy sily: razgranichenie so smezhnymi ponyatiyami // Zakony Rossii: opyt, analiz, praktika. — 2025. — № 1. — S. 56–61.

8. Loginov E. A. K voprosu o soderzhanii obyazatelstva ispolnitelya v dogovore vozmezdnogo okazaniya uslug. Kommentariy k opredeleniyu Sudebnoy kollegii po ekonomicheskim sporam VS RF ot 13.02.2024 № 305ES23‑18507 // Vestnik ekonomicheskogo pravosudiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii. — 2024. — № 7. — S. 12–31.

9. Obrazovanie i zanyatost: pravovye voprosy novoy tsifrovoy realnosti: monografiya / N. S. Volkova, O. Yu. Eremina, O. V. Motsnaya [i dr.]; otv. red. N. S. Volkova, N. V. Putilo; Institut zakonodatelstva i sravnitelnogo pravovedeniya pri Pravitelstve Rossiyskoy Federatsii. — M.: Yurisprudentsiya, 2025. — 192 s.

10. Peremena lits v obyazatelstve i otvetstvennost za narushenie obyazatelstva: kommentariy k statyam 330–333, 380–381, 382–406.1 Grazhdanskogo kodeksa Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Elektronnoe izdanie. Redaktsiya 2.0) / otv. red. A. G. Karapetov. — M.: M‑Logos, 2022. — 1582 s.

11. Savelev A. I. Elektronnaya kommertsiya v Rossii i za rubezhom: pravovoe regulirovanie. — 3‑e izd., pererab. i dop. — M.: Statut, 2020. — 920 s.

12. Kharitonova Yu. S. Otvetstvennost vladeltsa za nekorrektnuyu rabotu tsifrovoy platformy // Zakony Rossii: opyt, analiz, praktika. — 2023. — № 12. — S. 19–24.

13. Tserkovnikov M. A. Ob ogranichenii otvetstvennosti tsedenta za nedeystvitelnost ustupaemogo prava: kommentariy k abz. 2 p. 1 st. 390 Grazhdanskogo kodeksa RF // Vestnik grazhdanskogo prava. — 2024. — № 6. — S. 239–259.

14. Shvyrev B. A., Tishchenko Yu. Yu. Kiberataki: immersionnaya obrazovatelnaya sreda i ee formirovanie // Ugolovno‑ispolnitelnaya sistema: pravo, ekonomika, upravlenie. — 2024. — № 1. — S. 30–33.