Skip to main content

International Cyberspace Law: New Challenges

 


Introduction

The international legal system is slowly taking into consideration the role of cyberspace. Action in cyberspace requires no time and place. The process of globalization has not only brought achievements in civilization but also challenges embedded in it. It is a fact that national threats have changed under globalization and the internet revolution. The offences are no longer confined to boundaries and offences through the internet have increased. Thus, international cooperation has become essential to avoid such threats. The cyber domain in the context of the transformation of international security has great influence.

What can be done?

The UN-centric approach should be the core governance model in the global cyberspace: Cyberspace is a domain, which comes with aspects of virtual reality but also covers major aspects of state sovereignty etc. When it comes to cyber issues in respect of the international community, the states should rely on existing mechanisms under the UN framework. In the year 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two important resolutions to deal with cyber-security i.e., “Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the context of International Security and Advancing Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace in the context of International Security”[1]. Moreover, the UN has always proved effective in resolving international matters.

The state sovereignty should be normalised in cyberspace:

The principle of state sovereignty is the core of international relations and should be applied to cyberspace also. State Sovereignty in the context of cyberspace means rights and obligations like maintaining peaceful use of cyberspace, refraining from use of threat or force etc. In this regard, the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) in 2013 affirmed and took a step forward of putting international norms and principles to be applied to relevant activities on the technology of information and communication[2]. Moreover, in 2015, UNGGE report not only reaffirmed the 2013 arguments and further developed the concept of state sovereignty in cyberspace.

Application of existing laws in par with cyberspace requires further scrutiny:

Considering increasing cyber-attacks in some of the countries, some scholars developed an opinion and described these attacks as acts of cyber warfare, further invoking the provisions of The Charter of the United Nations on threat or actual use of force and advocating the application of law of state responsibility to all cyber-attacks. Even if there are some attacks which are conducted by states or maybe in attribution of other states, these attacks will fall under “threat or use of force” or “armed attack” category. These attacks should be peacefully handled by the UN Security Council rather than employing military forces. 

Conclusion

Despite international legal instruments for cyberspace, the international community can do better. It is necessary for the states to come and stand as one rather than to focus on military standards. Furthermore, the UN framework should hear the demands of most countries of the world and follow new developments of information technology to establish an international legal instrument to combat cybercrimes. 

 

By: Munis Nasir  

(Legal Intern, WCSF)

 

 

For more updates, please visit our official website: https://www.worldcybersecurities.com/

 

FOOTNOTES

[1] Arvind Gupta, A Tale of Two UN Resolutions on Cyber-Security https://www.vifindia.org/2019/april/24/a-tale-of-two-un-resolutions-on-cyber-security (Last Modified: April 24, 2019 12:00 PM)

[2] Adam Sehgal, The UN’s Group of Governmental Experts on Cybersecurity https://www.cfr.org/blog/uns-group-governmental-experts-cybersecurity (Last Modified: April 13, 2015 9: 15 AM)


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UNESCO Guidelines on Generative AI in Schools

The advent of artificial intelligence has assumed prominence amongst all industries and various facets of people's personal lives. The integration of AI in education has been inevitable, given the significance and role of information, knowledge production and administration in the sector. This is especially so as its capabilities entail replicating higher-order thinking. Besides assisting in the education process, it also brings the element of real-life relevance, allowing education to be imparted against the backdrop of the evolving world due to the same AI. It tends to have implications on the subject matter that needs to be imparted, which tends to be something that constantly needs to answer the question of "Why and how is this particular subject matter relevant for learning?".  This induces policy-makers and educational institutions to rethink what they need to impart as knowledge, the area of matter, and the manner of thinking to be emphasised. This is because educa
Post a Comment
Read more

Dark Web: Safe or unsafe? Truth Revealed!

  The dark web is the part of the internet that is not visible to search engines. With the advancement in technology, digitization has resulted in different types of attacks. We can talk to anyone as long as we have an internet connection. The main concern is with privacy and anonymity in mind.  A team of computer scientists and mathematicians working for one branch of the US navy which is known as the Naval Research laboratory (NRL), developed a new technology known as Onion Routing. It allows anonymous communication where the source and destination cannot be determined by the third party. A network using the Onion Routing technique is classified as Darknet. The NRL released the Onion Routing Technique and it became The Onion Router, also known as TOR. Advantages of Dark Web  Humans are allowed to hold privacy and express their views freely. Privacy is considered to be critical for honest persons through the different criminals and stalkers.  The growing tendency of employers to track
4 comments
Read more

Need for Anti-Spam Laws in India: Comparative Analysis

  Introduction Spam is unsolicited, usually commercial messages (such as e-mails, text messages, or internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places. The spamming activity is usually considered to cause a lot of nuisance and mental annoyance. Spamming is carried out with the help of an electronic mechanism to send unsolicited messages and advertisements. It can also be termed “An unsolicited e-mail” from which the sender attempts to gain an advantage. "India is the seventh biggest spammer in the world 7.8 billion spam e-mails sent in past 24 hours". It’s high time that India has to come up with its legislation to curb the activity.  The author will also argue the need for anti-spam legislation in India with a comparative analysis of various other jurisdictions. Why is it a concern? The term spam emerged due to the spread of unsolicited commercial messages in the internet space. The main challenge is that it has varied charact
1 comment
Read more