Cyberwarfare, Cybercrime, and the Future
I was in the process of writing a newsletter article for my International Regulations and Policy course (ICS 642) at the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, www.bsu.edu/cics, when I came across a story I found interesting. I thought I would share it with everyone.
In an article written on January 25, 2010 by Kim Zetter for Wired.com, www.wired.com, “In the wake of a recent speech by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning countries that censor the internet and engage in hacking, China has lobbed a return volley and accused the United States of hypocrisy and initiating cyberwarfare against Iran.”
The United States had also asked Twitterhttp://twitter.com to postponed scheduled maintenance in order for the Iranian protesters to have continual access to the social networking site to coordinate protests and chronically this moment of unrest. Zetter goes on to quote a Chinese newspaper called People’s Daily as saying, “Behind what America calls free speech is naked political scheming. How did the unrest after the Iranian election come about?” said the paper. “It was because online warfare launched by America, via YouTube video and Twitter microblogging, spread rumors, created splits, stirred up and sowed discord between the followers of conservative reformist factions.”
As the internet grows exponentially, so too the level and amount of warfare waged across the web grows. The criminals will get smarter, more sophisticated, and the ability to stop/catch them will become more difficult. In chapter 9 of Governing Global Electronic Networks, Ian Hosein states, “National governments are usually entitled to enact and enforce laws within their jurisdiction; it is, after all, their sovereign right to do so. Transborder activity challenges this right. Enforceability becomes immediately questionable: activity may occur beyond the jurisdiction of national law, thus regulating national activities is fruitless and hazardous economically.”
If there aren’t any laws to regulate and enforce internet policies against cybercrime, then everyone will have access to every other person’s personal information, thus allowing the world access to everyone’s bank accounts. But at the same time, what gives the United States the right to censor and condemn other countries for performing the same acts of covert cyber operations that they perform themselves? Is cyberwarfare and cybercrime lawful if it is committed by your own country, or is it legal for every country? Shouldn’t it be illegal for every country?
“We’re afraid that in the eyes of American politicians, only information controlled by America is free information, only news acknowledged by America is free news, only speech approved by America is free speech, and only information flow that suits American interests is free information flow,” according to the Guardian newspaper.