cseea - Publicatii - Brief Analysis

This text is replaced by the Flash movie.

Finde

Membership

Publication » Brief Analysis » security and web

The Security and the Web

Mihaela PADUREANU
January 16, 2010

The main goal that the Internet had in the Cold War was to protect the American interests against the Soviet threat. Although the Cold War is over, the Internet dwells and the power that was gained goes beyond borders. This topic may be viewed using three dimensions. The first is state-individual; the second is real world- virtual world; and the third is new media-old media. (Geopolitics 2.0 - Matthew Fraser)

The web takes many forms and may influence the citizens in many ways. When we talk about the link between citizens and state we can see that one of the state’s functions, according to the classis view- to provide security for its citizens, may be threaten by the cyberspace. One of the first states that was a victim of the cyber insecurity was Estonia. In 2007, after a statue was moved from the center of Estonia`s capital city, ethnic Russians protested and Russia and Estonia were involved in a diplomatic conflict. A few days later Estonia`s computerized infrastructure was attacked (banks, government agencies). This is just one example of how state security can be endangered.

The power of the web can, in other cases, be used to obtain advantages. This was the case in the 2008 US elections when cadidate Barak Obama was seen using his BlackBerry very often. Another advantage was that the users of social networks (MySpace, Facebook) were supporting him more than they supported J. McCain. Obama`s team was at the same time a victim of hackers` attack and the president remembers this all too well.

In december 2009 Russia and the US had a meeting and discussed the ways to straighten the cybersecurity (New York Times, December 12, 2009). Although the methods for fighting the attacks are different it is important to see that some of the most important states are concerned about this issue. Russia wants a disarmament treaty and the US wants to improve the cooperation between states. Cybersecurity is considered one of the US` vulnerabilities. That is why a Cyber Command is going to be developed by the end of 2010.

The number of states that have the opportunity and the interest to engage in such methods for obtaining informations has increased compared with the first years of the web. One of the states that has changed its opinion about the power of the web has been China. In the same time more people have access to the internet and can use this to influence decision-making. The events that took place in Iran in June showed the power that these instruments have.

Still there are some questions regarding the power of the web. For the first dimension state-individual we can ask: can the states use this tool to spy and to obtain informations? In this case do we use the same rules when it comes to cyberspace for democracies and for authoritarian regimes? Can we justify, in some cases, the use of these tools? Can we talk about a case of humanitarian intervention but in the cyberspace now? Will be extended the meaning of security not only for state cybersecurity but for indivial cybersecurity?

For the real world-virtual world dimension the question may be: what standard do we use to delineate between the two? Can the real world become the virtual world? And for the third dimension new media-old media we can see that the changes that the media is going to face are obvious. The question is about the quality of the articles. Will they be about the real world or about the virtual world? What the radio and the TV did in the 50s, 60s and 70s the web did now. A new information and communication tool, more faster and more powerful. State`s sovereignity and territory are again questioned. This time the central role that the state has in the international relations might be questioned even more.

Home About us Team Programs Publication Links Terms and conditions Contact