The Cyber Shell Game – War, Information Warfare, and the Darkening Web

Presented at Black Hat USA 2019, Aug. 7, 2019, 4 p.m. (50 minutes)

<p>This year we celebrate a dubious anniversary – it’s been 20 years since the first major resolution on “information security” was submitted in the United Nations, and it was the first of many. But this is not the “information security” you are looking for. Instead of ISO2700x and protecting data, this version of information security is about content. It’s not foremost concerned with a hyper-kinetic “cyber war” of burned-our critical infrastructure but is all about ““information warfare” and regime change. For many foreign governments see the current free Internet as the biggest threat to their own security and would like a very different Internet to emerge: top-down, intergovernmental, and framed around security. And despite the best efforts, the US and her allies are not always able to resist the siren call of new legislation and moves towards an intergovernmental-dominated Internet system. This clash of values is also a clash of visions, and strategic games – and increasingly the free Internet is a subject of a shell game, where sleights-of-hand and information warfare masquerade as cyber espionage attacks and preparation for all-out war.</p><p>This talk will review the ideological differences of cyber-conflict, and how these have operationally been reflected in both major cyber campaigns and incidents as well as in international diplomacy and Internet governance. It traces the forces that threaten to shift the Internet fundamentally from its current utility as a enable of freedoms to one of security and control. And it asks how the Internet can be saved – from this outside threat, but also from itself.<br></p>

Presenters:

  • Alexander Klimburg - Fellow & Director, Atlantic Council / The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies
    Alexander Klimburg is a cyber policy wonk, infosec geek, and free Internet advocate. The director of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, he is affiliated with Harvard University, the Atlantic Council, and The Hague Center for Strategic Studies. For the last decade plus Alexander has been trying to communicate between the policy and technical world, with marginal success, having previously spent too much time with consulting and dot-com venture capital. He has accompanied the diplomatic work on “cyber norms” at the UN and OSCE, helped draft national cyber security strategies and relevant legislation for several governments, and has advised on the set-up and operation of national cybersecurity centers and best infosec practices. Alexander has been responsible for some track 1.5. diplomatic discussions and occasionally gets to opine on offensive cyber effect operations and TTPs. As an academic he tries to connect state practice and international law with the emerging deterrence and resilience strategies of nations, is particularly interested in emerging technical and policy trends in cybersecurity. Previous hobbies include supporting cybercrime investigations and takedowns. He is the author of several publications, including the critically acclaimed “The Darkening Web” published 2017 by Penguin Press, which however not enough people bought. An official bio is here: <a href="https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/alexander-klimburg" data-mce-href="https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/alexander-klimburg" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/alexander-klimburg</a>

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