Submitted text
The Federal Council is instructed to examine how Switzerland could become the world epicenter of international governance in the area of cyberspace. The aim is to work towards the creation of a Geneva Convention on Digitalization; this should contain the principles that guarantee the peaceful use of cyberspace. In addition, a neutral organization should be created, along the lines of the ICRC, to ensure that these principles are implemented. And finally, it is also a question of working towards Geneva becoming the headquarters of this organization.
Such a project would be fully in line with Switzerland’s commitment at the international level. Switzerland must position itself quickly and clearly in this subject area.
Justification
Since 2010, there has been cooperation between the European Union and NATO in the area of international digital governance. The development of the Internet has created a new space: cyberspace. It is the arena of cyberattacks that can bring a country to its knees. No country can pretend that it alone can protect itself against such attacks.
That is why international governance of cyberspace must be created.
The following must be avoided:
- that a climate of mistrust is created; this would result in a spiral of armament in cyberspace; sovereignty reflexes would lead to a fragmentation of the Internet
- that states attack other states
- that states attack so-called critical companies, technology companies, or critical public services such as health care.
States must commit to the following:
- Do not exploit security vulnerabilities, but draw attention to them (avoid a second “WannaCry”; the NSA was aware of the vulnerability and used it for its own purposes).
- protect citizens in the virtual world (only states can provide such protection).
The following ideas need to be propagated:
- Dialogue and coordination are indispensable
- each state is responsible for all cyber activities originating from its territory; this necessitates the creation of an international arbitration court to identify the perpetrators of attacks
- the military’s priority is defense, not escalation of conflict.
The UN Group of Governmental Experts (UN GGE) promoted such a project in its 2015 report, and the EU and NATO reached an agreement in February 2016 to share best practices in the area of cyber attack prevention, detection, and response.
But without the involvement of state authorities, the recommendations of the UN GGE remain dead letters. The Internet must remain a public good.