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Human Rights Defenders in Cyberspace: A Litmus Test for Cybersecurity
By Pavlina Pavlova - 11 May 2021
Compromised accounts, device confiscation, censorship, surveillance, excessive monitoring – these are some of the threats in cyberspace with the potential to violate human rights. But not everyone is affected equally with their consequences. Human rights defenders have been pre-eminently targeted by their adversaries and opponents. They have witnessed human rights concerns being translated into threats to psychological and even physical security. Reflecting on their security needs and experiences can act as the litmus test when building digital societies that are democratic, secure, and resilient.
Shortly after the word ‘cyberspace’ had been coined by sci-fi novelist William Gibson in the early ’80s, the prefix ‘cyber’ extended into multiple areas, denoting their relationship with information technology. The term ‘cybersecurity’ has by itself over 40
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April 12 marked the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first human space flight in 1961. It also became an occasion for fresh appeals for maintaining the sanctity of outer space. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, delivering a special message on the occasion, said, “We support the start of negotiations on the development of an international legally binding instrument prohibiting the deployment of any types of weapons [in space], as well as the use of force or threat of force.” Echoing similar sentiments, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said earlier in the week, “we are calling on the international community to start negotiations and reach agreement on arms control in order to ensure space safety as soon as possible.” Lijian added that “China has always been in favor of preventing an arms race in space, it has been actively promoting negotiations on a legally binding agreement on space arms control jointly with Russia.”
There’s hope that countries will lower their cyberattacks against other nations’ critical infrastructure thanks to a United Nations committee’s final report, but experts say it won’t completely stop attackers.
After nearly two years of deliberations, the Open-Ended Working Group (OWEG) on security in information and telecommunications technologies (ICTs) issued a report last month that agreed by consensus of 193 countries to follow voluntary and non-binding norms for responsible behaviour in cyberspace. Countries that agreed included Russia and China.
However, according to one Canadian commentator, Iran went so far as to “disassociate,” itself from it, given what it called the report’s “unacceptable content.” Josh Gold, a visiting fellow at the Canadian International Council, also noted in his blog Iran didn’t block consensus on the report.
Home / News / Let’s talk cyber: Towards multistakeholder dialogue on cybersecurity
By Marwa Azelmat and Verónica Ferrari Published on 24 February 2021
24 February 2021
The Informal Multi-stakeholder Cyber Dialogue, an initiative of a number of United Nations member states and the community working on cybersecurity, took place at the end of last year, from 4 to 10 December 2020. The event aimed at contributing to the UN General Assembly’s Open-Ended Working Group on ICTs (OEWG), which seeks to discuss responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. Although this dialogue series was not part of the formal OEWG process, the event was a platform for dialogue between civil society, the technical community, academia, companies and UN states.