Slowing the Cyber Arms Race

Discussion Paper | December 10, 2015

Promoting International Cyber Norms: A New Advocacy Forum is the product of EWI's Breakthrough Group on Promoting Measures of Restraint in Cyber Armaments. The report recommends the establishment of a forum to help deepen consensus around emerging cyber norms and bridging remaining substantial divides on normative issues. The proposed forum aligns with the recently announced intent of the governments of Estonia and the Netherlands to set up a "cyber norms platform." It also includes a comparative analysis of emerging norms of state behavior across five global organizations.

"Slowing the cyber arms race takes the global village," EWI's Global Vice President Bruce McConnell said. "Private organizations, led by NGOs, have a unique ability to promote government action to reduce the potential damage from of a real cyber war."

Written by EWI Professorial Fellow Greg Austin, EWI Global Vice President Bruce McConnell and Microsoft Director of Cybersecurity Policy (EMEA) Jan Neutze, this report supports the work of EWI’s Breakthrough Group on Promoting Measures of Restraint in Cyber Armaments. Other contributors include Shen Yi, Associate Professor and Executive Director, Workshop on the Studies of National Cyber Security Strategy and Technology, Fudan University and John Savage, EWI Distinguished Fellow and An Wang Professor of Computer Science at Brown University.

Read the full report here.