UN Security Council Talks Over Cyber threats, Where it Leads?

The world’s most important forum regarding well being of nations, the United Nations Security Council is going to carry out its first organized public meeting on cybersecurity. The forum will address growing threats of cyberattacks on countries.  In the recent past, many countries witnessed security incidents targeting their key infrastructure. 

Alongside, America’s newly elected President Joe Biden has raised cybersecurity issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country which is often accused of being behind major hacks. 

Earlier this month, a summit took place in Geneva in which the US president set forward red lines for Russia. In which he laid out 16 “untouchable” entities, ranging from the energy sector to water distribution. 

“This is the generic list of critical infrastructure which every country has,” said one European ambassador who specializes in cybersecurity. 

“In the United Nations first committee, we already have agreed in 2015, which is six years ago, that we are refraining from malicious cyber activities against each other’s critical infrastructures as UN member states,” the diplomat said. 

This meeting has been called by Estonia which is heading the Council for June and is also a leader in the fight against cyberattacks. The meeting takes place at a ministerial-level through online services. 

Before this formal meeting, the Security Council has already addressed the issue multiple times, but not formally, it always addressed the subject behind closed doors. 

The aim of the videoconference, Estonia said, is “to contribute to a better understanding of the growing risks stemming from malicious activities in cyberspace and their impact on international peace and security.” 

Furthermore, a diplomat added this issue is not something where we hide our heads under the sand and say the matter like this doesn’t exist. 

“It is a new issue and in the Security Council, as always, it is difficult to bring anything new after 76 years of dealing with more traditional aspects of peace and security, but Cyber is a dual-use domain, we are in a complex situation which is not similar to other international security topics,” the official concluded.