Real world challenges of cyberspace
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As Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu said in December 2009, "The Internet has become a major vehicle through which anti-Chinese forces are perpetuating their work of infiltration and sabotage and magnifying their ability to disrupt the socialist order".
The response of the Chinese government has been twofold. First, it is trying to develop software indigenously to lessen the country's dependence on the West. And second, it plans to control the access to the Internet to combat socially disruptive phenomena such as crime and pornography. Lest it be misunderstood, China is not the only country to impose such controls. Even Western countries like Australia plan to do so to eliminate child pornography from the Net.
China is worried that the United States and other Western powers are trying to enjoy the same dominance in the cyber world that they have in space and strategic weapons. This perception has been enhanced by the recent US decision to create a cyber command in the Pentagon.
China's military has developed its own doctrine on cyber dominance in the event of an armed conflict with another power. Many experts say cyber warfare is a new dimension of war and it could even decide the fate of one.
Modern society, no doubt, is highly dependent on utilities and services such as energy supplies and financial services, which are delivered with the help of information and communication technologies. A disruption in these services could have a disabling effect on society as a whole, as was seen in Estonia in 2007.
Militarization of the Internet is an unwelcome development, as are efforts to limit access to the Net. Some experts say efforts to limit access to the Net could lead to the establishment of a "walled world" in which each state operates something like a "national internet" with limited connectivity to the outside world. That may create an illusion of security. In the longer-term, however, it would be a move away from a globalized communication system.
No country knows this better than China which, five centuries ago, turned its back on the world only to later discover that it was ill-equipped to battle it out with another country.
A better approach would be to accept the Internet as a common global platform and encourage all countries to take steps to ensure the security and integrity of the Internet elements under its control. Countries should also develop effective and globally coordinated law enforcement efforts to deal with the negative consequences of global connectivity such as crime and child pornography. The Convention on Cybercrime, signed by 43 countries, offers a basis on which the globalized world can build (or strengthen) its security network.
Aggressive behaviour on the Internet can never be controlled through formal arms control arrangements, enshrined in an international treaty, because it is almost impossible to devise effective verification measures.
But it is possible to achieve some measure of international agreement on globally unacceptable online actions and behaviors.
The author is director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at London-based the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
