The United States and Russia have for several years been engaged in a high-level diplomatic “reset” of their relationship, complete with a physical "reset" button; now, that “reset” has been extended to the Internet.
The current goal of a better working relationship with Russia is much like the goal pursued by the US during the Cold War: making sure that the two countries did not misinterpret each others actions in such a way as to start an unnecessary conflict. While such relationships used to be about understanding troop movements or missile positioning, the two countries are now just as concerned with Internet actions.
"Both the US and Russia are committed to tackling common Cybersecurity threats while at the same time reducing the chances a misunderstood incident could negatively affect our relationship," said Howard Schmidt, US Cybersecurity Coordinator, in a statement yesterday.
We’re actively working on doing so in numerous ways: through regular exchanges of information on technical threats to both sides like botnets; by better understanding each other’s military views on operating in cyberspace; and by establishing 24/7 systems allowing us to communicate about cybersecurity issues via our existing and highly successful crisis prevention communications links between our two capitals. We plan to have all three mechanisms established by year’s end.
Such measures are increasingly important. The recent “International Strategy for Cyberspace," released by the US back in May, made clear that American officials would treat things like cyberattacks and Internet espionage the same way they would any offline threat. Indeed, an electronic attack could even bring the US military into action on behalf of an allied country.
"When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country," said the document. "All states possess an inherent right to self-defence, and we recognize that certain hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners We reserve the right to use all necessary means—diplomatic, informational, military, and economic—as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our Nation, our allies, our partners, and our interests."
Given the difficulty of definitively identifying bad actors on the Internet and determining whether they are freelancers, organized crime, or foreign government agents, the possibilities for suspicion and misunderstanding remain high. The newest element of the US/Russian "reset" is meant to create some level of trust between officials on both sides.
To See the Statement of White House Click HERE
To download the PDF of the International Strategy for Cyberspace Click HERE
-News Source (ars, white-house)
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