On Friday, February 16, the EastWest Institute (EWI) and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) co-hosted a cybersecurity roundtable at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). Cameron Munter, CEO of EWI and Merle Maigre, Director of CCDCOE opened the session. Introductory remarks were delivered by Brad Smith, President & Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft, Sir Julian King, EU Commissioner for the Security Union and Rob Joyce, White House Cyber Security Coordinator and U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor.

Bruce McConnell, Global Vice President and head of EWI’s Global Cooperation in Cyberspace Initiative, moderated the discussion which was focused on "Deterrence in the Age of Cyber Geopolitics." Participants examined the threat of state-sponsored cyber attacks and escalating arsenals of cyber weapons, looking for ways to increase international stability in cyberspace. One possible route to stability is the development of norms of responsible behavior for cyberspace for states, or codes of conduct for companies that could reduce the risk for conflict. In this vein, the roundtable featured remarks from Chair of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace Marina Kaljurand, and Co-chair Michael Chertoff.

The difficult topic of law enforcement access to the plaintext of encrypted data was also discussed, with participants asked to weigh trade-offs between public safety, commerce, cybersecurity and privacy and other human rights. EWI took the occasion to formally launch its new publication, Encryption Policy in Democratic Regimes: Finding Convergent Paths and Balanced Solutions, which seeks to contribute to this debate by proposing a method for arriving at balanced policies that minimize overall negative effects.