Crossroads Blog | Institute National Security and Counterterrorism

Identity Management, international law, Official Policy

Kissinger, Huntsman: U.S., China need cyber detente | Reuters

Henry Kissinger, the architect of détente during the Cold War, and Jon Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China, said on June 14, 2011, that “[T]he United States and China need to reach an agreement to restrict cyber attacks and designate some areas as off limits to hacking,” according to Reuters.  According to the article:

Security experts say the borderless nature of the Web requires a coordinated global response against hacking. The view that cyber security is a technical problem, rather than a strategic one, has meant that it has not been a priority.

Reportedly, James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggested that "Law enforcement — that would be a good place to start[.]  Everyone can agree that child porn is bad and you don’t want to support terrorism."  Actually, I doubt that, because there exists no agreed definition of “terrorism.”  Indeed, it seems very likely that the U.S. State Department is providing privacy software to people that the Chinese government considers terrorists.  Also, recall that the United States is detaining at Guantanamo Bay several Chinese citizens that U.S. law forbids repatriating to China because of fears of inhumane treatment.

"At the end of the day, in my view, a lot of the Chinese solution for hackers is more aggressively finding out who’s doing what in cyberspace," said Stewart Baker, a former Department of Homeland Security official now at the law firm Steptoe and Johnson LLP.

"These are the kinds of things that are likely to make the world a little less safe for hackers but also for the color revolutions," he said. "If you help law enforcement around the world you’re helping the British bobbies… but you’re also helping Russian, Iranian and Chinese security forces who are less attractive in the range of things that they do," he said.

You can read the entire article at: Kissinger, Huntsman: U.S., China need cyber detente | Reuters.

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