[governance] FW: [IP] UN calls for global cyber treaty

[michael gurstein]

For the agenda of the next IGF?
 
M

From: Richard Forno <rforno at infowarrior.org>
Date: February 1, 2010 5:27:28 PM EST
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior at attrition.org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave at farber.net>
Subject: UN calls for global cyber treaty




Once again, we hear rumblings of "internet drivers' liscenses as part of any
'solutions' to 'protect' the net.....   -rf


UN calls for global cyber treaty
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/UN-calls-for-global-cyber-treaty/0
,130061744,339300673,00.htm?omnRef=1337
By AAP
01 February 2010 10:07 AM
Tags: un, treaty, security, google, china, cyber, war, attack
The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber attacks becoming an all-out war,
the head of the main UN communications and technology agency has warned.

International Telcommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun Toure gave
his warning on Saturday at a World Economic Forum debate where experts said
nations must now consider when a cyber attack becomes a declaration of war.

With attacks on Google from China a major talking point in Davos, Toure said
the risk of a cyber conflict between two nations grows every year.

He proposed a treaty in which countries would engage not to make the first
cyber strike against another nation.

"A cyber war would be worse than a tsunami - a catastrophe," the UN official
said, highlighting examples such as attacks on Estonia last year.

He proposed an international accord, adding: "The framework would look like
a peace treaty before a war."

Countries should guarantee to protect their citizens and their right to
access to information, promise not to harbour cyber terrorists and "should
commit themselves not to attack another".

John Negroponte, former director of US intelligence, said intelligence
agencies in the major powers would be the first to "express reservations"
about such an accord.

Susan Collins, a US Republican senator who sits on several senate military
and home affairs committees, said the prospect of a cyber attack sparking a
war was now being considered in the United States.

"If someone bombed the electric grid in our country and we saw the bombers
coming in it would clearly be an act of war.

"If that same country uses sophisticated computers to knock out our
electricity grid, I definitely think we are getting closer to saying it is
an act of war," Collins said.

Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, said "there
are at least 10 countries in the world whose internet capability is
sophisticated enough to carry out cyber attacks ... and they can make it
appear to come from anywhere."

"The internet is the biggest command and control centre for every bad guy
out there," he said.

The head of online security company McAfee told another Davos debate on
Friday that China, the United States, Russia, Israel and France were among
20 countries locked in a cyberspace arms race and gearing up for possible
internet hostilities.

Mundie and other experts have said there is a growing need to police the
internet to clampdown on fraud, espionage and the spread of viruses.

"People don't understand the scale of criminal activity on the internet.
Whether criminal, individual or nation states, the community is growing more
sophisticated," the Microsoft executive said.

"We need a kind of World Health Organisation for the internet," he said.

He also called fo a "driver's licence" for internet users.

"If you want to drive a car you have to have a licence to say that you are
capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to
drive and you have to have insurance."

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