In the emerging technological world, cyber power appears to be the most essential tool for any state to gain its national interests. Nations around the world have developed the capabilities to conduct the cyber attacks in order to achieve their political motives against any state in the realm of international relations. The 21st century is marked with various developments in the field of technology which provides a platform to states through which they can compete and cooperate with each other and sometimes may move towards conflicts. Cyber power nowadays is not limited to technological advancement but has widened its influence in politics of international relations. The states having cyber power posses the ability to begin information warfare and impact various operations conducted around the world.
Hybrid warfare has become more prevailed in the current geo political world where traditional military operations involve the role of technology to achieve their objectives. Nowadays threats and risks to governmental organizations and various multinational companies are increasing rapidly raising concerns against the negative use of technology. The major concern of cyber attackers is the critical national infrastructure which if destroyed and controlled will give major benefits to hackers and have the power to ruin the working of entire nation. Counties are trying hard to invest on the resources which can detect the cyber attacks and restore the software to their original condition but unfortunately every technology in the world is hackable. Taking as example the cyber-attack WannaCry harmed 200,000 computers in 150 countries giving the loss of $4 billion.
The state sponsored hackers are the individuals that hack data for the interest of the state they are associated with. According to certain experts it is proposed that a team of professional and highly qualified hackers have started certain campaigns against the defense system of Ukraine, NATO and other western nations. These hackers are mainly associated with Russia and are keenly protecting its national interests. It is evident from the example that European parliament website stopped functioning for 24 hours after it passed a resolution declaring Russia as a state that sponsors terrorism and conducts inhuman activities. Secondly, the Microsoft Security Threat Intelligence Centre conducted the detailed investigation and concluded that the attacks against Ukraine were conducted by GRU which is Russia’s Intelligence.
In cyber space where individuals are globally connected together for the purpose of exchange of information, the cyber security threats are the great challenges faced by almost every nation which harm their national security and economic prosperity. The democratic countries face the grave challenges in conducting free and fair elections due to sometimes the state sponsored actors, Cyber criminals and hackers which disrupt the entire situation in the country creating unrest all around. Multiple cyber operations are involved in the political campaign by various parties rather than directly in the election procedures which is due to cyber power which has enabled them to spread the propaganda through social media platforms.
The rise in cyber warfare will change the power dynamics around the world as small states or non-state actors will gain the supremacy over global world powers and will reduce the influence of military. Secondly it is threatening the privacy of nations as hackers can easily gain access to vast information using cyber space. Thirdly, major developments in today’s world are connected to technology such as water supply system, transportation system, energy supply system and various financial system which if hacked will completely devastate the economy of the country by leading it to the turmoil. Lastly, the use of non-state actors to spread propaganda and building biased opinions is threatening for international cooperation.
Cyber diplomacy is needed in domain of global politics which is defined as the art by which nations interact with each other in cyber space in ways to ensure the cyber security in order to protect their national interests and promote their economic, political, and cultural relations with maintaining peace and stability around the globe. Cyber diplomacy minimizes the risk of cyber attacks and crimes conducted by states and non-state actors. The Paris call for trust and security is working to reduce the security threats in cyber space by protecting the internet, and is also joined by united states along with European union which will strengthen its influence. On the other hand, the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts is also making significant progress in cyber security.
The Writer is undergraduate student pursuing International Relation from school of politics and International Relations, Quaid-e-Azam University. She can be reached at saramustafaa27@gmail.com
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