[Chapter-delegates] "Internet driving licenses" to prevent cyber war?

[Marcin Cieslak]

A must read. In full. --Marcin


UN chief calls for treaty to prevent cyber war

(AFP) – 3 days ago

DAVOS, Switzerland — The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber
attacks becoming an all-out war, the head of the main UN communications
and technology agency warned Saturday.

International Telcommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun
Toure gave his warning 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 is 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
Friday that China, the United States, Russia, Israel and France are
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.

"When there is a pandemic, it organises the quarantine of cases.
We are not allowed to organise the systematic quarantine of machines
that are compromised."

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

"If you want to drive a car you have to have a license 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."

Andre Kudelski, chairman of Kudelski Group, said that a new internet
might have to be created forcing people to have two computers that
cannot connect and pass on viruses. "One internet for secure
operations and one internet for freedom."

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

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