As Montesquieu advocated, the rule of law and separation of powers are necessary to protect citizens and individuals from arbitrary rule by the state. Intensified measures to secure cyberspace risk leading to expert and political decisionmaking being kept outside of public and political debate and scrutiny. Deliberate separation of state cyber agencies and functions strengthens the rule of law, transparency …
Cyber Capacity Building: Trends and Scenarios
To best use international cyber capacity building we should understand its trajectory and where it might go next
Cybersecurity Convergence in the BRICS Countries
The thirteenth BRICS Summit took place on 9 September 2021 and cybersecurity featured prominently amongst the priorities identified by BRICS leaders. The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – are explicitly advocating for enhanced cooperation on cybersecurity issues, both at the international and intra-BRICS level. The facility with which cooperation can be enhanced remains unclear, but BRICS priorities …
Ransomware: a Crisis in Need of a Global Response
Ransomware has become a lucrative money-making enterprise for criminals and a useful tool for some nations, with consequences for national security, economic prosperity, and public health and safety. Its global nature means that individual countries or organizations cannot successfully thwart this threat alone—it will require complex, sustained, joint, collaborative international action. A U.S. politician once said, “All politics is local.” …
Navigating Europe’s Cybersecurity
A native Estonian, Juhan Lepassaar is no stranger to cybersecurity and the inner workings of the European Union. Between 2014 and 2019 he was the head of cabinet of Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for Digital Single Market in the Juncker Commission. In this role he was also involved in the preparation and the subsequent legislative phases of the Cybersecurity Act, which significantly strengthened the competences of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, which he currently heads.
Parliaments Under Cyberattack
Democratic institutions are under cyber siege. Parliaments and parliamentarians need to up their game if they are going to defend themselves. National leaders’ and decision-makers’ widespread reliance on Internet-connected digital technologies makes it critical that they use those tools responsibly and with care. It also means that those supporting leaders need to make it safe, secure and reliable for them …
EU Cybersecurity Strategy 2020: First Impressions
When it comes to digital and cyber policies, a message from Brussels this week is clear: nobody puts the EU in a corner. Faced with the growing competition and challenge to its way of doing business, Brussels is pushing back hard with concrete ideas to fight disinformation, to ensure greater independence from foreign digital giants and build a more cybersecure …
The Future for EU-US Cybersecurity Cooperation
While the American strategy of persistent engagement and the EU’s Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox – a framework for joint EU diplomatic responses to malicious cyber activities – could not be more different, they share the same underlying philosophy: the use of foreign and security policy tools to strengthen cybersecurity. Though their strategies differ significantly, the US and EU still have many instruments and strategic goals in common, which could be used to complement each other’s efforts.
Hurdles to Protecting Global Critical Infrastructure
The ongoing UN dialogues about responsible behaviour in cyberspace have brought hope that a global solution can be reached to ensure peace in the cyber domain. However, there are already obstacles visible on the road ahead. This is particularly true for the overprotection of ICT infrastructure. With growing cyber insecurity amid the ongoing pandemic, it is more important than ever …
Time for Cyber Maastricht?
In today’s information society, data and information replace the traditional resources for conducting war: coal and steel. Preventing conflicts revolving around these new resources demands greater cooperation and transparency. Until recently, coal and steel were critical raw materials for the economy and the basis for waging wars. It was coal and steel that brought European countries together in 1951 to …