From the course: Cybersecurity Foundations

Cybersecurity goes global

From the course: Cybersecurity Foundations

Cybersecurity goes global

“

- [Speaker] With the advent of the internet, there came a need to interconnect certain aspects of information technology. Telecommunications providers needed to be able to connect data services through global gateways, and with that, came the need to provide security at those gateways. Electronic information evolved from simple bulletin boards to sophisticated websites and a simple exchange of text messages evolved to the now ubiquitous electronic mail system. Such evolution required establishing global technical standards for interconnectivity and security. The internet engineering task force had been producing technical requests for comments or RFCs from the start of the internet. Shortly thereafter, ISO, the International Standards Organization initiated a project to develop a more sophisticated set of standards known as Open Systems Interconnect or OSI. These were not widely adopted and the IETF continues to be the driving force in internet standardization. Coordination of internet addressing is managed by the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers. ICANN, as it's known is an American-based organization responsible for the databases which determine internet naming and traffic routing. While this arrangement is designed to ensure the stable and secure operation of the internet, it also gave America control of the internet. This became a bone of contention with some of the other cyber savvy nations. As early as 2008, there were signs that Russia was concerned about US control over the internet and was considering breaking away and running its own national network. This was also driven by Russia's goal of managing the information available to its citizens. China also was making sure that free information and western culture did not permeate the emerging Chinese cyberspace domain. The great firewall of China, with its estimated 50,000 cybersecurity defenders, carries out a highly effective program of cyber control and surveillance of its citizens. By 2010, the West was becoming very nervous that the global economic miracle being realized through the internet was about to crash. Should the internet become a splinter net? This led the UK to run the first of what was to be an ongoing program of global conferences on cyberspace. The conference considered a set of seven principles for use of the internet, which provided the foundation for maintaining a global network while ensuring nations were able to operate within their own culture. The seven principles proposed at the start of the initiative were as follows; Proportionality. Government should act in cyberspace, in accordance with national, international law. Accessibility. All people should be able to access cyberspace. Respect. Users of cyberspace should show tolerance and respect for diversity of language, culture, and ideas. Human rights. The internet should encourage the right to privacy and protection of intellectual property for all people. Openness. Cyberspace should be an open forum for innovation and the free flow of ideas, information, and expression. Collaboration. Nations should work collectively to tackle the threat from criminals acting online. And competition. The internet should be a competitive environment which ensures a fair return on investment in network services and content. Before moving on, take a moment to think about these principles. How well do they fit with the approach the US, UK, Russia and China takes to the internet?

Contents