Need for International Consensus for Dealing with Violations in Cyberspace

Col Rohit Mehrotra writes:Cyber security threats are increasing with every passing day and are global in nature due to the very nature of Internet and the multifaceted stakeholders and users.

The cancellation of Christmas Day release of ‘The Interview’, a fiction movie about CIA plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un alleged to have been hacked at the behest of state sponsored attackers has created quite a furore worldwide and more so in the USA. North Korea’s top military body, the National Defence Commission, slammed Sony for abetting a terrorist act and hurting the dignity of its supreme leadership and is visibly infuriated over indignant depiction of its revered leader. Though Pyongyang has denied of any involvement in the brazen 24 November attack on Sony, it has hailed it as a righteous deed. North Korea has been quite vociferous in its criticism of US regarding leveling false allegations and has proposed a joint investigation into the incident. The United States has asked China to help block cyber-attacks from North Korea as it weighs a response to the crippling hack of Sony Pictures.

Cyber security threats are increasing with every passing day and are global in nature due to the very nature of Internet and the multifaceted stakeholders and users. As the cyberspace and Internet  has become very hostile and vulnerability to cyber-attacks is increasing, countries all over are strengthening their cyber security. While protecting their own cyber space, countries need to understand that cyber security is an international issue and not just a national issue. Therefore, an international cyber security treaty is required which is globally acceptable as the conflict of laws in cyberspace will continue to pose problems which cannot be effectively tackled in its absence. Although, some Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties exist between some nations, yet there is a growing need for an international consensus on the issue of dealing with the violations in the cyberspace on lines similar to those existing under Article 51 of UN Charter which states that, “States; individually or collectively have the right to defend  themselves against an ‘armed attack”. A lot of work is being done in the area of international law to understand the terms ‘armed act,’ ‘acts of aggression’ and ‘force’ but there seems to be little or no international consensus on the issues related to cyber.