Topic: Militarization of the Internet
Country: Russia
Delegate Name: Chris Cribbs
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Russia position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Cyberwarfare is a form of battle that has only developed in recent decades. It differs from typical warfare in the sense that cyber attacks do not target the military, but on civilian targets, such as power grids and other infrastructure. Websites are also subject to hacking, where secure user information is decrypted and stolen. The increasing number of infrastructure units that are connected to the internet makes cyber warfare a growing concern. More targets are accessible through networking today than there ever have been before. This ability to target infrastructure directly has led to the creation of cyber warfare linked to the military.
This is where our problem lies.
There has been much diplomatic strife over the recent use of extensive international cyber intelligence by certain world powers (who, out of respect for privacy, shall not be named, suffice it to say their initials are U, S, and A), occurring both domestically and internationally. Further tensions have been created by the increased ‘covert’ use of cyberterrorism. Several nations (including certain powers that use the symbol of an eagle under a flag that has stars and stripes) have engaged in other shady cyber actions, including a virus aimed to disrupt nuclear activity in Iran. The US and China have also engaged in cyberwar activity against each other- in fact, the western power has been hacking China for over 15 years. Attacks can disable power grids, steal and destroy information, and hijack weapon systems. Not only would any of those attacks destroy physical structures, but it would morally damage the national population of the target. Any country can do this from anywhere. These actions are a danger to the world, posing a universal threat to any nation with internet capabilities.
Russia, however, has never committed any acts of cyber war. We also find allegations to the contrary ridiculous; Russia has only recently begun developing a cyberdefense unit, in order to prevent both attacks and snooping from penetrating our nation.
Russia staunchly opposes any acts of cyber war. Any such action, from one nation to another, must be strictly off limits at all times. Cyber warfare and the uncontrolled sharing of confidential information threatens national sovereignty. National borders are not followed on the internet. Russia does not oppose domestic regulations regarding the internet, but the world is in desperate need of an international code of conduct in order to prevent cyberattacks. A cyber attack must be treated in a way similar to conventional attacks: as an act of war.
