[Infowarrior] - UN calls for global cyber treaty

[Richard Forno]

Once again, we hear rumblings of "internet drivers' liscenses as part  
of any 'solutions' to 'protect' the net.....   -rf


UN calls for global cyber treaty
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/UN-calls-for-global-cyber-treaty/0,130061744,339300673,00.htm?omnRef=1337
By AAP
01 February 2010 10:07 AM
Tags: un, treaty, security, google, china, cyber, war, attack
The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber attacks becoming an all-out  
war, the head of the main UN communications and technology agency has  
warned.

International Telcommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun Toure  
gave his warning on Saturday at a World Economic Forum debate where  
experts said nations must now consider when a cyber attack becomes a  
declaration of war.

With attacks on Google from China a major talking point in Davos,  
Toure said the risk of a cyber conflict between two nations grows  
every year.

He proposed a treaty in which countries would engage not to make the  
first cyber strike against another nation.

"A cyber war would be worse than a tsunami — a catastrophe," the UN  
official said, highlighting examples such as attacks on Estonia last  
year.

He proposed an international accord, adding: "The framework would look  
like a peace treaty before a war."

Countries should guarantee to protect their citizens and their right  
to access to information, promise not to harbour cyber terrorists and  
"should commit themselves not to attack another".

John Negroponte, former director of US intelligence, said intelligence  
agencies in the major powers would be the first to "express  
reservations" about such an accord.

Susan Collins, a US Republican senator who sits on several senate  
military and home affairs committees, said the prospect of a cyber  
attack sparking a war was now being considered in the United States.

"If someone bombed the electric grid in our country and we saw the  
bombers coming in it would clearly be an act of war.

"If that same country uses sophisticated computers to knock out our  
electricity grid, I definitely think we are getting closer to saying  
it is an act of war," Collins said.

Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, said  
"there are at least 10 countries in the world whose internet  
capability is sophisticated enough to carry out cyber attacks ... and  
they can make it appear to come from anywhere."

"The internet is the biggest command and control centre for every bad  
guy out there," he said.

The head of online security company McAfee told another Davos debate  
on Friday that China, the United States, Russia, Israel and France  
were among 20 countries locked in a cyberspace arms race and gearing  
up for possible internet hostilities.

Mundie and other experts have said there is a growing need to police  
the internet to clampdown on fraud, espionage and the spread of viruses.

"People don't understand the scale of criminal activity on the  
internet. Whether criminal, individual or nation states, the community  
is growing more sophisticated," the Microsoft executive said.

"We need a kind of World Health Organisation for the internet," he said.

He also called fo a "driver's licence" for internet users.

"If you want to drive a car you have to have a licence to say that you  
are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is  
fit to drive and you have to have insurance."