Cyber diplomacy is becoming the new discipline to establish cooperation among nation states.
The threat now posed by acts of aggression in cyber space has caused governments to establish a position to deal with the establishment of agreements of cooperation and coordination of government activities in cyber space. The new position has been dubbed “cyber diplomat.” At this point, the cyber diplomat is charged with practicing the art and science of cyber diplomacy.
Cyber diplomacy refers to establishing relationships, coordinating and conducting, negotiations and establishing agreements with representatives of foreign governments. It seeks to analyze and formulate positions on the foreign policy of particular states as they relate to each country’s interests in cyber space.
The academic component of cyber diplomacy is an emerging interdisciplinary field of study that includes technical (Internet) understanding, national security examination, regulatory analysis and traditional political science, as well as the art of negotiations.
Given the current state of intrusions and attacks, few could argue about the need to establish cooperation for investigations.
In addition, when the United States began to establish cyber agreements and strategic relationships a number of countries (e.g. South Korea and Australia) it becames clear the role is more than justified.
Perhaps the greatest benefit from cyber diplomats, as well as their biggest challenge, will be to establish cyber intelligence sharing.
As you would expect, the United Nations is heavily involved in cyber diplomacy. One example of their involvement can be found in a cyberspace treaty document issued last year focusing on a U.N. protocol on cybersecurity and cybercrime.
The Internet is global, the threat is global, the malicious actors are global, so the solution must be global. The role of the cyber diplomat and the art and science of cyber diplomacy will continue to grow in importance for the foreseeable future.
Kevin G. Coleman is a long-time security technology executive and former Chief Strategist at Netscape. He is Senior Fellow with the Technolytics Institute, where he provides consulting services on strategic technology and security issues.