Topic: Future of Cyber Warfare
Country: Croatia
Delegate Name: Amber Ung
School: Ann Arbor Community High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Croatia position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
Technology has become a huge factor in today’s world. The new age emcompasses technology to a very large degree. Many people have access to the worldwide web and all of the information being fed into the internet. The rise of computer intelligence, access to the internet, and hackers pose a threat to all those victim to cyber attacks.
Croatia believes cyber attacks directed at a government from another government would be an act of declaring war and military action could be a response, but it is up to the victim on how to proceed with the problem. Of course, violence should be a last resort and countries should work together to prevent cyber attacks through better cyber defense and laws that prevent or punish such attacks. An attack on the government or state from a non-governmental perpetrator should be acknowledged as a criminal offense with a punishment for the government under attack to decide. This would be terrorism and punishable by the will of the victim country. In the case of neither the victim or perpetrator being a government, it is up to the law of the perpetrator’s country to decide what is a formitable punishment for the attack that is committed.
The safety of humans should be a priority to all countries. When the safety of the citizens are compromised due to cyber activity, action needs to be taken to prevent an outbreak of chaos. For example, the trailer of an anti-Muslim movie was released on YouTube and promoted by an assortment of right-wing Christians in the United States. Protests against this movie had spread to more than two dozen in a time span of a week. This caused violent protest crowds across the Middle East with over thirty deaths, including the murder of US officials. This film is not a criminal offense, although it is extremely offensive. This is a situation where the offended party needs to take action to help contain the riots. They can work together with people and parties involved to compromise and possibly censor the video to protect the people.
Cyber attacks are criminal offenses if committed by a non-governmental perpetrator and if they infringe on either countries laws/ rights. The laws of the home country of the perpetrator are more significant in cases of conflicting laws. When cyber attacks are committed by a government toward another government, it is a call for military action as a last resort. Parties must converse and compromise to help prevent and resolve cyber attacks to ensure the safety of all.
