‘Digital Geneva Convention’ Needed to Deter Nation-State Hacking: Microsoft President

Brad Smith, Microsoft President, strongly encouraged governments around the world to establish an international body to safeguard civilians from state-enabled hacking. He emphasized the need for this kind of protection in light of many high-profile attacks, which showed a need to police government activities in cyberspace. Smith proposes that countries develop and follow global rules in case of cyber attacks. Those rules are similar to the ones established against armed conflict at the Geneva Convention in 1949 after World War II. Moreover, he stated that technology companies must preserve stability and trust online by being neutral in the event of cyber conflict.

With a ‘Digital Geneva Convention,’ Smith believes governments could commit to implementing norms required to protect civilians on the internet, especially in times of peace. He outlined his proposal through keynote remarks in San Francisco during the cybersecurity conference of RSA, the day after the election of Donald Trump. This US presidential election spurred discussions about nation-state hacking, as US intelligence agencies accused Russian hackers of the attack on Democratic Party emails, which they believe was aimed at aiding the win of the Republican candidate.

Cyber attacks have been more predominant in the recent years and many of them are conducted by governments to achieve their respective national security and foreign policy objects. Sometimes, the attacks are conducted to support battlefield operations. However, only a few international agreements are currently in place to enable acceptable nation-state hacking or cyber attacks. One of these is the bilateral pledge, which China and the US signed in 2015 to prevent the hacking of companies to obtain intellectual properties. A group of 20 different nations created a similar deal months after it was signed.

Smith thinks that President Trump can build on the existing agreements by working with President Putin of Russia to create a potential agreement for banning nation-state hacking of every civilian aspect of political and economic infrastructures. The Digital Geneva Convention would thrive with an independent organization, which will be tasked to investigate evidence on nation-state attacks aimed at certain countries and publicly disclose them. This type of organization, according to Smith, is like the International Atomic Energy Agency, an UN-based watchdog that deters nuclear weapons use and should include private sector and government technical experts. Moreover, he said that the technology sector must work neutrally and collectively to protect everyone from cyber attacks. This means pledging not to help governments where offensive activities are involved, and adopting a coordinated disclosure process to address vulnerabilities in hardware and software.

About the Author:

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies.