Cibercrimen

The proposed UN cybercrime convention has risks and opportunities for defining and protecting vulnerable groups.

In 2019, the UN General Assembly voted to establish an Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) to develop a convention on countering the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for criminal purposes. The AHC has met twice since January 2022, convening UN member state delegations in Vienna and New York to negotiate the future cybercrime convention.

The mandating resolution expressed concern about the impact of crimes committed in the digital world on the well-being of individuals. Just as cybercrime is borderless, the impacts of cybercrime on the security of vulnerable groups are inexact.

Vulnerable and marginalized groups offline face newfound, rapidly evolving, and ill-defined threats online.…  Seguir leyendo »

A new UN cybercrime treaty process is raising strong awareness about one of the biggest global challenges and the complexities of addressing it.

At the end of February, negotiations for a UN treaty to counter cybercrime began. This is significant for many reasons.

Firstly, while there are several instruments that address cybercrime, this is not only the first time states are negotiating a binding UN instrument on cybercrime, but also the first time states are negotiating a binding instrument on any cyber issue.

Secondly, the convention has the potential of reducing impunity of cybercriminals by harmonizing national approaches to criminalization. Relatedly, the convention could play a crucial role in improving international cooperation by providing effective investigatory frameworks and facilitating cross-border data exchange.

Moreover, the convention  could help build the capacity of countries with less experience in tackling cybercrime and provide the basis for technical assistance.…  Seguir leyendo »

Are you ready for the next global crisis? Christopher Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said last month that we are already “on the cusp of a global digital pandemic.” He was talking about the explosion of cybercrime. FBI Director Christopher A. Wray concurs, explaining that the dramatic rise of this new form of crime has shaken the U.S. security apparatus much like the 9/11 attacks did in 2001.

In fact, the escalation of cybercrime is a far more pervasive problem than terrorism. As we connect more and more things to the Internet, all of us become more and more vulnerable to hackers, who can compromise any person or business though the Web and steal their data or freeze them out until they pay a ransom.…  Seguir leyendo »

Cyber crime attack. Photo by Getty Images

Although nothing new, ransomware attacks on critical national infrastructure have recently been held under a microscope due to a series of high profile incidents in which criminal groups – not states or state-sponsored groups – were identified as the perpetrators.

It is a widely accepted international norm that cyberattacks by states on critical national infrastructure are off-limits. Despite not entirely deterring states, this norm reflects conventional thinking that has focused predominantly on state behaviour vis-à-vis critical national infrastructure.

Traditionally, cybersecurity threats to infrastructure have been addressed at the United Nations (UN) via the parallel processes on global cyber governance in the Group of Governmental Experts on Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace and the Open-Ended Working Group on ICTs.…  Seguir leyendo »

The U.S. government is reportedly set to accuse China’s state-run hacking groups of attacking U.S. research institutions and pharmaceutical companies to steal novel coronavirus data, treatments and vaccines. This ought to be a wake-up call. The truth is that the United States has yet to use its strongest tools to punish and deter China from its widespread and continuing use of state-sponsored cybercrime.

The mere fact the Chinese government is attempting to steal coronavirus information should make clear that the blame for the lack of U.S.-China cooperation on the pandemic lies primarily on the Chinese side. China has restricted its own researchers from sharing coronavirus research and has refused to hand over early virus samples.…  Seguir leyendo »

La gran ciberestafa

Punto de inflexión: Cambridge Analytica, una firma de análisis de datos políticos, recolectó información privada de más de 87 millones de perfiles de Facebook sin que la red social alertara a sus usuarios.

Desde hace tiempo, hemos aceptado que para participar en las redes sociales, debemos renunciar a nuestra privacidad. Sacrificamos partes fundamentales de nuestra información personal para poder amplificar nuestra voz, acariciar nuestro ego y conectarnos con una tribu virtual. Puntos de Inflexión pidió a la escritora Maggie Shen King que explorara una distopía en torno a la información, y ella respondió con un relato de ficción.

Sofie no podía comprender por qué hace una semana se habían detenido las ofertas.…  Seguir leyendo »

The Big Phish

Turning Point: Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm, harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook profiles without the social network alerting users.

We have long ago come to terms with the trade-off that to participate in social media, we must first give up our privacy. We sacrifice vital parts of our personal data so that we may amplify our voice, stroke our ego and connect with a virtual tribe. Turning Points asked the writer Maggie Shen King to explore a data-driven dystopia, and she responded with a piece of flash fiction.

Sofie could not understand why the bidding stopped a week ago.…  Seguir leyendo »