Communications of the ACM
How the U.S. Can Avoid a 'Cyber Cold War'
Former White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt says there is a fine line to negotiate between pushing central values such as freedom of speech without ceding progress in other cyber issues in which common ground is easier to establish.
Schmidt says that when it comes to cybersecurity discussions with foreign countries, it is imperative that the perfect does not become the enemy of the good. This is particularly vital in talks with major powers such as China and Russia, which are notorious for using the Internet to repress dissent, but with whom the U.S. has tenuous but important relationships.
"We don't want to wind up in sort of a cyber Cold War," he notes. "If we're not talking, there's always a lot of room for worse things to take place."
Schmidt says it is encouraging that many of the issues on the table such as human rights and self-defense protocols are already defined in international laws and conventions. Furthermore, more than 24 countries have ratified the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime. Schmidt says issues of sovereignty, location, and ownership in the context of cyberattacks can be resolved under existing codes of conduct, although the job will not be easy.
From CIO
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