UN report calls for avoiding military-political use of information technologies - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Aug 17 (Interfax) - A UN special report released by experts from 20 countries to spell out norms of state cyber behavior recommends the exclusively peaceful use of the internet, Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cooperation in Cyber Security, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large Andrei Krutskikh has said.
"To my mind, it's a key fact that the report reflects the standpoint of Russia and its SCO and BRICS partners - not to legalize or regulate conflicts in cyberspace but to prevent the military-political use of information and communication technologies. This is the first vital issue," Krutskikh told Kommersant in an interview.
Secondly, the report says that "sides should not sweepingly accuse each other of cyber attacks, which is frequently happening now," he said.
"Allegations that states organize and perpetrate cyber attacks need to be proven. This will prevent sweeping liability of states for attacks allegedly perpetrated in cyberspace," the diplomat said.
"Thirdly, the report repeatedly underlined that information and telecommunication technologies should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes," Krutskikh said.
Fourthly, for the first time ever, the report recognized backdoors in IT products as illegal and malicious. This provision was added at the initiative of Russia, Krutskikh said.
"Finally, the group reaffirmed the sovereign right of states to be in command of information and communication infrastructures in their territories and to determine their policy in the field of global cyber security," he said.
In addition, the document included main recommendations on beefing up international cooperation in global cyber security and stressed the importance of confidence building measures and closure of 'the digital gap'.
"The report was submitted to the UN secretary general who would present it at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly [in late September]. Yet the norms spelled out by the report were elaborated by way of consensus, within a UN mechanism, and can already be deemed as valid recommendations of the United Nations," Krutskikh said.
He said that Russia would have preferred a legally binding international convention on global cyber security under the UN aegis. "However, we understand that a number of our Western partners are not ready for this document. We can nevertheless agree on baseline norms of behavior right now," the diplomat said.
