132nd IPU Assembly

Hanoi (Viet Nam), 28 March-1 April 2015

Standing Committee on Peace and International Security

Cyber warfare – a serious threat to peace and global security

TALKING POINTS

Senator Dumitru OPREA

            Romanian IPU Group

Mr. Chairman,

Distinguished guests and colleagues,

I believe that our task today is very ambitious. We are dealing with a rather new concept, of military nature, whose contents are yet to be agreed upon.  

There are fine lines and multiple inter-connections between the various notions associated with cyber space, and it seems quite difficult not to transform a debate on cyber war into one about cyber security - a subject much wider in scope, and very present on the public and parliamentary agenda.

The truth of the matter is that each country must find the right answers against an ever increasing level of cyber threats, and parliaments must not be left aside.

The draft resolution - for which I commend the co-rapporteurs – recommends certain lines of action enabling us to build up a parliamentary approach for a peaceful and responsible use of cyber space.

I would add a few comments.       

In designing cyber defense laws, policies and strategies, we are facing several challenges. The most evident is to find the right balance between freedom of expression and the need to ensure stability and security. Another one is to observe privacy and protect personal data while sharing information within and across national borders, with a view to enhancing security.      

Beyond human rights issues, measures to secure cyber defense must be carefully balanced with other requirements, equally important: to best harness ICT economic benefits, to modernize infrastructures, to implement new technologies, to develop efficient public-private cooperation.        

Dear colleagues,

Romania undertook major responsibilities in the areas of cyber security and cyber crime control.

In 2013, we adopted a national Cyber Security Strategy aligned with the EU Digital Agenda 2020. It sets out objectives, principles and lines of action for understanding, preventing and deterring threats, vulnerabilities and cyber security risks.  

The strategy focuses on: strengthening the regulatory and institutional framework; the correct functioning of critical infrastructures; resilience of cyber infrastructures; the identification, prevention and countering of cyber security risks and threats; multi-stakeholder cooperation nationally and international cooperation; development of a cyber security culture among population; participation to cyber security initiatives within international organizations.

In this respect, I should mention that:

- my country played an active role in the adoption by the OSCE, in 2013, of the first set of cyber security Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs). As EU chef de file at the OSCE on cyber security, Romania made substantial contributions to the negotiating process, and is contributing to the follow-up processes;

- Bucharest hosts the new Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe, tasked to assist countries worldwide in strengthening their capacity to respond to the challenges posed by cyber crime, on the basis of the standards of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.      

Let me draw your attention to this treaty, the only legally binding international instrument on cybercrime, open for accession to non-member States of the Council of Europe, as well.

Considering that measures for cyber security and cyber crime control complement each other and can be mutually reinforcing, we recommend a strong parliamentary support for the widest possible accession to the Budapest Convention, which provides guidelines for developing comprehensive legislation, and a framework of cooperation between State Parties against cyber criminality.    

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our increased dependence on cyber-space has brought new risks and threats, which are likely to increase in the foreseeable future. Cyber-space is a medium conducive to both economic growth and elusive attacks.

The progress of computer programmes has reached the point where they can be employed as weapons capable of disabling critical systems in a target-state, during peace time, without possibility of a comparable retaliation. Cyber defense must be a priority for all and the subject of coordinated preventive and reactive actions.

In the area of cyber defense – as in all matters related to cyber space - the importance of international cooperation can never be overrated.

Thank you for your attention!