Preventing and Mitigating Cyber Conflict - Cyber Stability Conference 2018

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to the Palais des Nations!

Let me first of all thank the UN Institute for Disarmament Research for once again pioneering critically important discussions on international security.

Thank you as well for assembling such a distinguished cast of speakers from such diverse geographical and professional backgrounds.

This is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary composition and outlook that we need to bring together to tackle questions as difficult as the one you’re tackling: namely, how can we ensure that cyberspace is peaceful, secure, and stable?

It’s long been said that the revolutions in communications and information technology have created a virtual world. Today we know that this world - cyberspace - is a world that we depend on every single day, in nearly everything we do.

So cyberspace is real. But so are the risks that come with it. In fact, they’re inextricably linked. The very technologies that empower us to create and to build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy. The very technologies that can do tremendous good can inflict just as much harm.

So much so that malicious actions in cyberspace today threaten global stability. Cyberattacks can be rapidly deployed across borders and are difficult to identify, let alone attribute. They weaken the delicate balance and system of reciprocity that underpins much of the contemporary international security architecture.

As our Secretary-General recently observed, the next war will not begin with a “barrage of artillery or aerial bombardment”, but with a “massive cyberattack to destroy military capacity and paralyze basic infrastructures.”

A prediction supported by developments we are seeing across the world today:
̶ Increasing investment by states in both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.
̶ Intentional interference in elections and democratic processes.
̶ Attacks on key industries.
̶ Digitally enabled threats to marginalized or vulnerable populations.

And then there are our disagreements that make dealing with all of this so much harder.

Our disagreement on how to integrate non-traditional stakeholders such as the private sector into the security discussion.

Or our disagreement on how the appropriate normative and legal framework should look like.

Those are incredibly difficult issues to resolve. They certainly drive home the point why your meeting today is so critical.

While it can feel as if we’re being dramatically outpaced, it’s important to recognize that we are not starting at zero. In fact, we have already come a long way in setting out rules of the road regarding malicious use of ICT and expected norms of behavior.

I am thinking in particular about the norms agreed in the 2015 report of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security. A foundation for a common understanding among all Member States upon which we can build.

This is why your meeting presents great opportunities:

An opportunity for strengthening dialogue and engagement.

An opportunity for reaching a shared understanding of the uncertainties and risks we are facing.

And finally, an opportunity to prevent and mitigate cyber conflict and, by extension, for securing our world and our common future.

I wish you much success.

Thank you.