Thanks to the successful adoption of the UN Open Ended Working Group (OEWG)’s final report in March and the conclusion of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE)’s final report at the end of May, scholars, experts, and diplomats are rightfully rejoicing. Multilateralism is alive and kicking, especially around sensitive issues such as cyber ones.
Cyberspace has turned into the “fifth dimension of conflictuality” and, as such, has been sanctioned both by countries’ national cyber security strategies and by international organizations alike. In particular, NATO recognizes cyberspace as a domain for military operations wherein it is possible to trigger collective defense mechanisms in the event of hostile actions.
The prevailing analogy for the cyber domain, specifically conflict therein, is that of the Wild West. Over the last decade, the world has witnessed the dizzying expansion of cyber conflict. Malicious actors’ recognition that weaponizing cyberspace provides asymmetric benefits over traditional, kinetic domains has only been assisted by the ballooning of digital products and services that introduce additional cyber vulnerabilities.
International agreement over cyberspace is one of the most challenging issues of the 21st century. It is different compared to regulating other domains such as sea, land, air, and even space.
Nuovo capitolo nell’eterna diatriba tra sicurezza e privacy. Apple ha annunciato oggi NeuralMatch, un nuovo software che scansionerà tutti gli iPhone degli Stati Uniti, senza il consenso esplicito dei loro possessori, alla ricerca di immagini pedopornografiche, e segnalerà alle autorità gli utenti sospettati di aver memorizzato tali immagini illegali sui loro telefoni. Parallelamente, Cupertino ha presentato nuove funzionalità per il suo sistema operativo volte alla protezione dei minori da contenuti inappropriati.
The unprecedented number of cyber-attacks that have rocked some of the world’s biggest companies and government agencies over the last few years makes cyber diplomacy one of the most urgent issues of the century.
However, catching up to disruptive technologies while curbing military escalation in cyberspace presents both opportunities and obstacles.
In recent years, the digital world has emerged as a new domain of human activity, bringing with it unprecedented opportunities and global connectivity. As the world continues to progress through this period of digital transformations — including closing a digital divide where nearly half of the world’s population has yet to connect to the Internet — societies everywhere are realizing the benefits of increased connectivity via information and communication technologies (ICTs).
L’ambiente cibernetico è diventato il sistema nervoso dei paesi altamente informatizzati, in quanto collega tra loro le dimensioni politico-strategica, militare, economico-finanziaria, commerciale, industriale, infrastrutturale e sociale. All’interno di questa realtà, in continua trasformazione, il problema della sicurezza coinvolge tutti indistintamente: singoli cittadini, istituzioni e attori privati.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected countries globally regardless of regime type. Nonetheless, for an extended period throughout this pandemic, non-democratic regimes seemed to have performed better than democracies.
In 2009, Robert Kaplan published an article on Foreign Policy with the eloquent title “The Revenge of Geography” emphasizing that geography, despite the many theories that gave it up for dead, continues to be an integral element of international relations.
Knowledge drives productivity and economic growth. Data are, in the least, a vital resource for every instrument of power.
Figure 1 the data, information, knowledge, and wisdom (DIKW) construct
The rapid evolution of the technological landscape is re-shaping dynamics between governments and private actors. The governments that invested more heavily in technologies such as big data, 5G, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing have already reached strategic advantages on other countries.
The sovereignty of a state is contingent upon its ability to master the technological landscape, and here, data is the new power.