The United Nations Disarmament and International Security Committee in New York accepted a resolution on Thursday, 1 November, which addresses developments in the fields of information technology and telecommunication in the context of international security.
The resolution expresses concern that the security of states can be compromised by means of information or telecommunication technology.
The European Union Presidency Portugal made a statement upon the approval of the resolution in which they highlighted potential threats to cyber security, which can originate from organized criminals, terrorists, or co-ordinated attacks by individuals influenced by political propaganda.
According to Estonian ambassador to the UN Tiina Intelmann, the Presidency’s speech was largely motivated by the cyber attacks on Estonian government establishment, media and bank web pages in the spring. “What occurred in Estonia could happen to some other nation at any time,” Intelmann noted.
Intelmann added that one possibility for combating malicious or illegal use of information technology would be to declare such actions criminal. “For this, an international legal framework must be created,” said Intelmann.
Intelmann confirmed that both Estonia and the EU have called upon all UN member nations to join the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, which came into effect in 2004 and was initiated by Estonia, among other nations.
On the basis of the resolution, a group of government experts will be formed in 2009. The group will be responsible for researching both existing and potential threats to information safety, and to make proposals as to how preventive measures could be taken.
In addition, the group of government experts could also study occurrences of attacks on critical national information infrastructures, and consider suggestions as to how these attacks could be investigated and declared criminal. This would include how to facilitate the tracing of an attack back to its source and reporting the information to the relevant nations.
