29 March 2023 | For: granma newspaper
Implement technical assistance mechanisms for capacity building, based on respect for national legislation; in addition to establishing a multilateral mechanism to determine, impartially and unequivocally, the origin of incidents related to the use of ICTs.
Cuba proposed a group of actions that could help to face current and potential threats in the information and communication technologies (ICT) environment. In the fourth substantive session of the Open Composition Working Group on cybersecurity 2021-2025, which recently took place at the UN headquarters in New York, Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, Vice Minister of Communications, expressed that cooperation must be increased to confront cyber incidents, exchanging information that does not compromise the privacy of States with respect to their capabilities or contravene national legislation.
He highlighted the need to implement technical assistance mechanisms for capacity building, including those to improve the protection of critical infrastructures, based on respect for national legislation; In addition to establishing a multilateral mechanism to determine, impartially and unequivocally, the origin of incidents related to the use of ICT, detailed the website of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. Another action contemplates the exchange of good practices in dealing with cyber incidents, especially among Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT), to increase the operational capabilities of countries in the event of a cyber attack.
Likewise, the Vice Minister of Communications pointed out, the nomenclature of cyber incidents should be standardized, as far as possible, in the search for a common terminology that facilitates the exchange of information regarding incident response. Rodríguez Hernández advocated for the adoption, within the framework of the United Nations, of a legally binding international instrument that complements applicable international law, responds to the significant legal gaps in cybersecurity, and makes it possible to effectively address the growing challenges and threats. through international cooperation.
"The misuse of ICTs and media platforms, including social networks and radio and electronic broadcasts, as a tool for interventionism through the promotion of hate speech, incitement to violence, subversion , destabilization, the dissemination of false news and the misrepresentation of reality against any State for political purposes and as a pretext for the threat or use of force, also represent a threat to nations and contravene the principles of International Law”, said.