Headline February 27, 2017/ ''' *CYBERATTACKS* & *CYBERWEAPONS* '''

''' *CYBERATTACKS* & 

*CYBERWEAPONS* '''

YES -*THE DIGITAL GENEVA CONVENTION* : Avery great idea, indeed. Just over a week ago-

Microsoft  announced an important  -historic even  -call  for some  very great action.

  

Speaking at the  RSA conference in San Francisco, the tech giant's President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, called on governments  to sign what he calls a Digital Geneva Convention, which will-

''Commit governments to implement the norms needed to protect civilians on the internet in times of peace.'' Also proposed is a neutral international organization that would investigate state-sponsored cyberattacks.''

And he called on  private-sector tech companies to pledge to protect their users from all cyberattacks  -no matter what their possible origin  -and to never assist nation states in carrying out offensive operations in cyberspace.

*What can I say?......Yes!.........Yes!...........Yes!  The world needs an international convention like this badly and urgently*, writes Eugene Kaspersky, and adds:.

One should have been adopted a long time ago, and I've been advocating such a thing for I don't know how many years. Ten? Fifteen?  News that it is finally gaining traction and there are tech big-guns throwing their weight behind it is great music to my ears.

*In recent years cyberattacks have grown into a global threat  of immense proportions*.

Politically and criminally motivated  hackers have been filling headlines consistently. They're said to have affected the presidential elections in the U.S., they have been stealing millions {sometimes billions} of dollars from businesses and even central banks-

*Wreaking havoc in the industrial sector, stealing corporate and state secrets as well as individuals private data, and generally causing great damage to global peace, security and prosperity*.

Brad Smith's proposal is something that deeply resonates with my company's goals and vision.   

I firmly believe  that our  sector  ''cyber security''    should be as far away from politics as possible, and that my company and our respected competitors should be absolutely impartial in protecting all our customers from all possible cyberatttacks.

In doing so we're contributing to better global cybersecurity for everyone: making the world a better and safer place. I call this principle:

''Security Without Borders''.

I'm excited that such a huge, important and respected company as  Microsoft is putting it forward. Because in the field of digital security things have become acutely critical.

''If you compare cyberthreats ten years ago and now, you'd be amazed by how the scale of the problem has skyrocketed.

A decade ago journalists were asking  cybersecurity  companies like us about new species of malware for mobile devices. Today they are asking about ubiquitous-espionage, political crises, and the threat of cyberattack causing a real-life tanks-and-missiles  war among the world's powers.

We see a lot of advanced targeted attacks occurring in cyberspace, and most of them appear to be state sponsored.

They speak an array of languages, including Russian, Chinese, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Korean, Arabic and many others. We read in the news that more and more countries around the world are investing in cyber offensive capabilities.

It also adds up to a very worrying situation. It's like a balloon that keeps being blown up   -it'll pop eventually unless it stops being inflated.

*Espionage existed before computers and will probably always exist.   in some form or other while ever humans are still around. However, digital espionage is out of control*.

Its scale can now damage  international relations, global peace, and the unhindered development of global digital services  -i.e., technological progress.

There need to be rules of the game in this field to prevent conflicts in cyberspace spiraling out of control.

But there is something worse than espionage : cyberweapons. I believe that Microsoft's proposal in focusing on the protection of civilians is viable toward a global cybertreaty.

Any use of cyberweapons against civilian infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment, public transportation systems and critical industries should be absolutely off-limits for any responsible member of the international community-

*Just as chemical weapons are*.     

The Honour and Serving of the latest Operational Research on *Cyber Security*  continues. Thank ya all for reading and sharing forward and see you on the following one.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' The Lurking Dangers '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless