THIS is a long post, and a diversion from my usual EU- and euro-related concerns. But until recently I was writing about cybersecurity, and it does matter to the security of Europe, as the cyberattacks on Estonia in 2007 demonstrate. So here goes...
Later today (Thursday) Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, will take questions from the public via Twitter on the London conference on cyberspace that he is organising for next month. As a journalist, I cannot help but feel that this a bit of a stunt: communicating in 140 remotely typed characters, the questioner has little chance of putting a politician on the spot. Still, I suppose one should not criticise ministers for trying to communicate with the public.
The subject is serious, however. More and more people and devices are being hooked up to the internet. One debate concerns the future governance of the internet: should it be directed by governments, or should it be left to the private sector to develop inventively (and somewhat anarchically)? The Economist recently ran an account of the debate (here) and expressed its view in a leader (here). To judge from Mr Hague's tweets, he agrees with us.
Inevitably, given the pervasiveness of information technology, cyberspace is also becoming a question of security. After land, sea, air and space, cyberspace is now the fifth dimension of warfare. Could a country launch a crippling attack from cyberspace, say to knock out the electricity grid of a rival state, or snarl up the logistical chain of its armed forces? The answer is: maybe.
For those that want to get up to speed, a good place to start is my Economist cover story on cyberwar last year (here), and the accompanying leader (here).
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