Topic: Militarization of the Internet
Country: Turkmenistan
Delegate Name: Sean Tarr
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Turkmenistan position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Cyberwarfare is the conducting of virtual attacks breaching the security of a country to retrieve restricted information over the internet. Cyberwarfare can also pertain to hacking bank systems, emergency services, power grids, and fuel pipelines. These are acts against a government that may be conducted by one hacker or group of hackers separate from a certain body.
Turkmenistan believes a cyberattack does not constitute a “use of force” under the UN Charter. This is due to the anonymity of the internet. Unlike acts of violence, cyberwarfare makes pointing fingers on as to who did certain acts much more difficult and it can not be easily decided if a state acted against another through a cyber attack, or if an individual or group of individuals attacked presiding within that state. If a use of force were allowed under any cyber attack, one state may easily call an act by an individual hacker as the doing of an entire state and use this as an excuse to wage war. This would allow warmongering states to wage war under the UN Charter with as little of an offence against them as one viewing some restricted information.
Turkmenistan hopes that in committee we will address ways to prevent cyber-security issues, and agree on ways to ensure that nations can feel secure with the use of internet. There must be ways to defend a country’s own internet without fear of others being able to hack in and reveal restricted information.
