President Barack Obama is stressing the importance of building international norms of behavior for cyberspace as he makes trips to international conferences in Turkey and East Asia.
During the G-20 summit held in Antalya, Turkey, the White House highlighted how the leaders attending acknowledged the risk of cyber threats and how international law applied.
“G-20 Leaders acknowledged the risk of cyber threats to the collective ability to use the Internet to bolster economic growth and development,” the White House said in a fact sheet released Monday.
The G-20 leaders also asserted international law applies to state conduct in cyberspace and committed that all states should abide by norms of responsible state behavior and “affirmed that no country should conduct or support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors,” the White House said.
This affirmation echoes President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s agreement on state activity in cyberspace during the latter’s state visit to Washington, D.C., in September (Defense Daily, Sept. 25).
“Given growing cyber threats, we committed to a set of norms–drafted by the United States–for how governments should conduct themselves in cyberspace, including a commitment not to engage in the cyber theft of intellectual property for commercial gain,” Obama said at a press conference in Antalya Monday.
Concurrently, the White House released another fact sheet explaining the U.S. vision for Asia and the Pacific region in advance of Obama’s attendance of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Manila Philippines and the Tenth East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Although the Asia-Pacific region presents many “extraordinary opportunities” it also presents clear challenges in coming years, the White House said. The administration reiterated it welcomes the rise of a China that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, and a responsible international player but that it is managing real and complex differences between the two countries, including cybersecurity.
Noting the increasing importance of the region to national interests, the White House said it seeks to strengthen the cybersecurity of its allies and partners while promoting opportunities for all people to enjoy the benefits of a free and open Internet.
“We are working to strengthen regional support for the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance, expand the availability of information technologies to the region’s developing countries, work to ensure cybersecurity measures do not restrict the free flow of information across borders, and support efforts to boost rule of law protections online,” the White House said.
The administration also vowed to strengthen the United States and partner nations’ ability to detect, attribute, and deter malicious cyber activity. This involves building the region’s legal, policy, and technical capacity to deter cybercrime, enhance cooperation on cybercrime cases, and conduct training on intellectual property theft and cybercrime.
“In the meetings in Asia and at the G-20, the United States will underscore the applicability of international law to cyberspace and the importance of the voluntary adoption of additional norms of responsible state behavior in peacetime, and the development of cyber confidence building measures.”
The APEC and East Asia Summits are to take place Tuesday through the weekend.