TALLINN, Nov 02, BNS – The United Nations disarmament and international security committee Thursday in New York passed a resolution pertaining to developments in the information and telecommunication sphere in the international security context, largely triggered by events in Estonia in the spring.
The resolution expresses concern that it is possible to threaten countries’ security using information and telecommunication technology, the Foreign Ministry said.
EU presidency Portugal made a statement on the occasion of the passing of the resolution, underlining the potential cybersecurity threats, which could rise both from coordinated attacks by organized criminals, terrorists as well by political propaganda.
Estonian ambassador to the United Nations Tiina Intelmann said the speech by the presidency was largely occasioned by the spring cyberattacks against the websites of Estonian government institutions, media channels and banks.
“What took place in Estonia can happen any time in some some other country,” the ambassador said.
Intelmann added that one opportunity to fight against criminal or illegal use of information technology is to declare such activity criminal.
“A respective international legal framework has to be created for this purpose,” he said.
Intelmann underlined that both Estonia and the European Union had appealed to all member countries of the United Nations to accede to the cybercrime convention of the Council of Europe, which entered into force in 2004. Estonia was among the initiators of that convention.
On the basis of the resolution a group of government experts will be set up in 2009 and charged with investigation of both existing and potential threats to information security and of making proposals for the adoption of respective measures.
Besides, a group of government experts could investigate cases when critical state information infrastructures have been attacked and consider recommendations how such acts could be investigated and declared criminal and facilitate pinpointing the source of such attacks and disclosing respective information to the relevant countries.
Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8816, [email protected]