Abstract
In their research paper from 2011, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, PW Singer and Allan Friedman stress out that no other issue has emerged so quickly as cybersecurity in the past years. And yet, they claim, there is no issue "so poorly understood as this 'cyber stuff'".
Indeed, many are claiming the same by putting forward the alarming statement that we know very little about this issue, when it is taking over many of the things we carry out today, at a government level, or a business level or just on a day-to-day basis in our private lives. The former director of the CIA General Michael Hayden went as far as to state: "Rarely has something been so important and so talked about with less and less clarity and less apparent understanding... I have sat in very small group meetings in Washington...unable to decide on a course of action because we lacked a clear picture of the long-term legal and policy implications of any decision we might take." This is exactly how, even at the highest decision-making level possible, we are experiencing a knowledge gap in the field of cyberspace that we cannot ignore, postpone or bypass any longer.
Extract
[...] And why is the discussion on the stability and security of the cyberspace so ubiquitous? "Cyber-attacks on financial institutions and financial market infrastructures are becoming more common and more sophisticated. Risk awareness has been increasing, firms actively manage cyber risk and invest in cybersecurity, and to some extent transfer and pool their risks through cyber liability insurance policies" ("Cyber Risk, Market Failures, and Financial Stability", IMF Working Paper, Emanuel Kopp, Lincoln Kaffenberger, and Christopher Wilson, 2017) Financial markets is only one of the many examples of sectors where the cyberspace can become an endemic risk, if not regulated appropriately. [...]
[...] It was meant to lay down the situation of the cyberspace and associated technologies at the time, and make sure to start on a solid framework to ensure basic security of the main actors. It had a very interesting and lasting approach to cybersecurity, considering it as "not an end unto itself, it is instead an obligation that our governments and societies must take on willingly, to ensure that innovation continues to flourish, drive markets, and improve lives". Adopting this vision entails something very specific for governments and public entities: not only is cyber risk an urgent issue that needs tackling, but governments must look for their individuals and business' best interests when using the cyberspace, and that means providing a framework that not only protects them but helps them prosper with these new tools. [...]
[...] Why do we seem to be, still to this day, unable to ensure stability in the cyberspace? - Literature Review and Introduction Assignment Literature Review & Introduction based on your own Research Question "Cyberspace represents one of the greatest inventions of mankind, reshaping personal, social, business, and political relationships. Unfortunately, due to attacks on and through cyberspace, urgent action is needed to ensure its stability. This concept of cyberspace stability-like its close cousin, international stability-requires a shared vision, one in which all parties recognize that geopolitical disagreements and changes which affect cyberspace must be managed in relative peace, and that cyberspace stability must be assured." (Promoting Stability in Cyberspace to Build Peace and Prosperity, Global Commission on The Stability of Cyberspace, November 2019) The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) defines cyber stability as the situation where public entities (institutions, governments) or private individuals are relatively confident they can use the services provided by the cyberspace in a secure and safe ways, where they can provide and manage change relatively peacefully, and resolve potential tensions without escalating matters. [...]
[...] I have sat in very small group meetings in Washington?unable to decide on a course of action because we lacked a clear picture of the long term legal and policy implications of any decision we might take". This is exactly how, even at the highest decision-making level possible, we are experience a knowledge gap in the field of cyberspace that we cannot ignore, postpone or bypass any longer. To understand the current situation, let's first have a quick overview of what has been the framework in terms of cybersecurity over the past few years. [...]
[...] These laws affirmed, for the first time, that the existing international laws should apply the concept of "stability" to the cyberspace as well. Unfortunately, the group of experts was unable to produce a new set of laws to complete the framework in 2017, but their efforts are still very much active inside the UN, rallying more than 80 countries last September. As Michael Chertoff, the ex-Secretary of Homeland Security and a co-chair of the GCSC, once explained: "Norms can exist in parallel with laws but are more dynamic in the face of rapidly changing technology" (Michael Chertoff). [...]
