The United Nations permanent representatives of China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistanjointly sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept 19, requesting him tocirculate the International Code of Conduct for Information Security. Drafted by the fourcountries, it is a formal UN document of the 66th session of the General Assembly.
It is the first of its kind in the field, and shows the joint efforts made by the internationalcommunity in setting the rules for cyberspace.
According to the letter, the code's purpose is to identify states' rights and responsibilities incyberspace, promote their constructive and responsible behavior, and enhance theircooperation in addressing the common threats and challenges in cyberspace.
Considering the fact that cyber-attacks in recent years have grown exponentially, the code putsforward comprehensive and systematic proposals on international information security rules.
The code makes much of state sovereignty in cyberspace, but fully respects the rights and freeflow of information. Frankly speaking, the flow of information to some extent has no borders, butit cannot overstep national sovereignty and should abide by related laws.
With some predicting that future wars will be conducted in cyberspace, the code requestsstates, voluntarily subscribing to it, to pledge not to use cyberspace to carry out hostileactivities or acts of aggression that pose threats to international peace and security. It alsocalls on states to cooperate in combating criminal and terrorist activities that use informationaland communication technologies.
The United States and its NATO partners have been working together to guard their cybersecurity. Yet, some of their approaches and priorities put other countries at a disadvantage incyberspace and are unacceptable for many developing countries.
It is important to note that the US unveiled its International Strategy for Cyberspace in May,which was meant to take the leading role in setting the rules for cyberspace. ReflectingWashington's priority to push ahead with cyber hegemony in a bid to maintain its military andeconomic supremacy and boost its leading status as the world's only superpower, the USdocument promised the prospect of a unilateral conventional response by the US to any hostileattacks in cyberspace.
Existing international law and international treaties largely do not cover cyberspace and thefour-nation initiative provides a new approach and foundation for related internationaldiscussions.
The code proposed in the letter to Ban is a bid to promote multilateral, transparent anddemocratic management of the Internet.
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