U.S. And Russia Differ On A Treaty For Cyberspace

A ceremony at a Soviet war statue in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2007. The decision to move the statue from the city center to a military cemetery enraged Russia and Russian Estonians. It was followed by a crippling, monthlong siege of Estonian computer networks. NIPA, via Associated Press

From The New York Times:

The United States and Russia are locked in a fundamental dispute over how to counter the growing threat of cyberwar attacks that could wreak havoc on computer systems and the Internet.

Both nations agree that cyberspace is an emerging battleground. The two sides are expected to address the subject when President Obama visits Russia next week and at the General Assembly of the United Nations in November, according to a senior State Department official.

But there the agreement ends.

Russia favors an international treaty along the lines of those negotiated for chemical weapons and has pushed for that approach at a series of meetings this year and in public statements by a high-ranking official.

The United States argues that a treaty is unnecessary. It instead advocates improved cooperation among international law enforcement groups. If these groups cooperate to make cyberspace more secure against criminal intrusions, their work will also make cyberspace more secure against military campaigns, American officials say.

Read more ....

My Comment: The Russian proposal is not workable. It would only take one nation and/or network in the world that does not fall under the purview of an international treaty, and it will be from there that cyber attacks and criminal enterprises will flourish. The U.S. approach towards law enforcement is also a stop-gap measure. It cannot prosecute rogue nations and networks since they are operating out of the jurisdiction of U.S. law.

So what is the solution .... hmmmm ..... unless we want to alter how the internet works (a recommendation that I would not agree to), there is no solution at the present time.