Great Decisions 2012 Spring Update: Cybersecurity
Great Decisions Updates are issued seasonally and provide groups with the latest news and analysis on topics. The Spring 2012 Update is current as of May, 2012. Download the Spring 2012 Update as a PDF here.
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China could pose a cybersecurity threat to the U.S. military, according to a report released in March by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). Perhaps as a response to heightened concerns about an arms race in cyberspace, the U.S. and China have been engaging in “war games” to defuse mutual mistrust and prevent a potential military escalation on either side. Last month, U.S. and Russian negotiators agreed to use a nuclear communications system—originally established during the cold war—to prevent misunderstandings about cyberattacks.
Despite these measures, U.S. officials have been emphasizing the cyber threat. In April, Rear Admiral Samuel Cox, the U.S. Cyber Command’s director of intelligence, warned that an arms race is underway. Furthermore, on May 4, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released a report indicating that state and local officials have concerns about coping with a cyberattack, and that 45 percent of these officials do not have a formal cybersecurity plan.
Concerns about the freedom of cyberspace have been growing in recent months. In February, an Indian court ordered Google, Facebook, Microsoft and 18 other companies to block material that might offend Hindus, Muslims or Christians. According to Indian law, companies are responsible for material posted on their Web sites by users. The case has been criticized by civil libertarians and open-society advocates.
On January 26, Twitter announced that it would allow country-specific censorship of tweets. Twitter, which was utilized by democracy protesters during the “Arab Spring,” will block tweets in certain countries while allowing them to be viewed from other countries. Critics of the new policy say that it could disrupt activists attempting to organize protests.
In April, political turmoil in China surrounding the dismissal of Bo Xilai, party secretary in Chongqing, exposed the challenges facing authorities seeking to censor Internet content. Users of weibo (microblogs) in China had circulated rumors about Bo’s suspension and his family’s involvement in the death of Neil Heywood, a British businessman—which were later borne out by official statements—as well as false rumors of a coup. In response to the latter, the government detained at least six people. Chinese censors already remove content and block searches for certain words (such as the names of officials), and are already in the process of implementing new restrictions on the use of weibo, including requiring users in Beijing and Shenzhen to register with their real names.
More drastically, the Chinese government shut down Internet and mobile phone networks in Sichuan after unrest in February. Tibetan activists claim that police shot and killed peaceful demonstrators, while the authorities claim that the police responded to rioters.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) is also looking at the Internet after major demonstrations occurred in response to the December 2011 parliamentary elections and the March 2012 presidential election, in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won a third non-consecutive term as president. In March, the deputy director of the FSB, Sergei Smirnov, called for a “purge” of Western influence in cyberspace. The government’s unease suggests that it is wary of an “Arab Spring” spreading in Russia through the Internet. The authorities have used an existing “anti-extremism” law to crack down on bloggers.
Ahead of parliamentary elections on March 2, Iran seemed to have had much of the same idea. As part of the power struggle between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Internet censors blocked a number of pro-Ahmedinejad Web sites. The authorities have also cracked down on supporters of opposition leaders by blocking their email access.
On April 22, President Obama signed an executive order that authorized the government to sanction those who help authoritarian regimes commit human rights abuses. The new sanctions are aimed at individuals and foreign entities that use technology to track, block or intercept telecommunications between dissidents or rebels in countries such as Iran and Syria. Earlier that month, in a speech at the Open Government Partnership conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the enormous power of cyberspace and emphasized the importance of open societies.