EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative

Day two of the OEWG 🇺🇳   Today, in-between the ongoing negotiations, we held a briefing focused on enhancing our Fellows' understanding of the European Union's role at the United Nations, specifically in the context of ICT security.   We were joined by Manon Le Blanc from the European External Action Service and Johannes Hamacher from European Union Delegation to the United Nations, who kindly provided a comprehensive overview of the EEAS's work and their efforts surrounding the UN #OEWG and cyber diplomacy. Their insights enriched our knowledge and underscored the critical importance of international collaboration in ensuring ICT security.   This session also offered an opportunity to reflect on regional cooperation and future opportunities. Such discussions are central to the #EUCDfellowship's mission to foster global cooperation and contribute to the UN framework for responsible state behaviour, paving the way for a secure digital future.   🙏 A big thanks to all for your valuable contributions.

The 8th substantive session of the OEWG on ICTs is here! 🇺🇳 🌐 We kicked off the week with a briefing by the stakeholder community alongside our Fellows, who, as part of the #EUCDfellowship, are with us in New York to participate in the session. It was an honour to have Allison Pytlak, Christina Rupp, and Louise Marie Hurel with us, sharing insights on their organisations, the work they do, and how it ties into the UN #OEWG. The aim was to enhance our Fellows' understanding of stakeholder roles and their contributions to the UN OEWG. 💡 The interesting questions that were raised and conversations that followed touched upon the added value of stakeholder inclusion, the modalities of stakeholder participation, and more. Thanks to everyone for participating, and to our partnering project EU CyberNet for the excellent cooperation.

Cyber & foreign policy: time to bridge the silos!   Cyberspace is at the core or our interconnected world and mainstreaming it into foreign policy strategies is crucial.   We gathered experts yesterday to brainstorm how to better integrate EU #cyber strategy into the broader foreign and security policy agenda. The discussion focused on overcoming silos and leveraging cyber as a strategic tool.   The event delved into two sessions: ➡ 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 1 explored the distinctive elements of cyber diplomacy, operations, and capacity building. Discussions focused on attribution challenges, plausible deniability, and the role of technology. ➡ 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 2 examined why cyber shouldn't be treated as a separate domain and is just another side of military operations, diplomacy or security strategies. This timely roundtable provided a valuable platform for discussing how the EU can harness the potential of cyberspace and strengthen its strategic posture in the face of evolving geopolitical realities. Andrea Salvi, Ph.D. Steven Everts, Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss, Manon Le Blanc. #cybersecurity #EU #foreignpolicy #internationalrelations

Mechanisms in the cyberspace accountability system – Part 2 The debate surrounding accountability in cyberspace has often been limited by a narrow focus on sanctions and their implementation as a necessary condition for accountability. This focus has consequently led to a limited conceptualisation of accountability in international #cyber policies. To broaden the discussion and offer new perspectives, our recent paper introduces Keohane’s eight types of accountability adapted to the context of #cyberspace. This demonstrates how these mechanisms overlap and complement each other to form a more comprehensive accountability system. 💡 Gain more insights in Patryk Pawlak's research paper "Accountability in Cyberspace: The Holy Grail of Cyber Stability?": https://lnkd.in/dtw4gcy7

🌐 In the digital world, we are all vulnerable to online threats and cyberattacks. Human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and civil society organisations are particularly at risk due to their critical work. 🔑 The Digital Security Helpline by Access Now offers real-time support to these at-risk groups. From addressing #cyberattacks to providing tailored advice, training, and resources, the helpline empowers users to proactively safeguard their #digital presence. This includes enhancing social media privacy, strengthening passwords and email security. Learn more about how the helpline is making a difference in our latest Good Cyber Story 👉 https://lnkd.in/dqWzGHeW

🇪🇺 The European elections are here, and the threat of disinformation should not be overlooked. Disinformation actors have the power to disrupt societies and undermine democracies, the integrity of the electoral process, and trust in democratic institutions. EUvsDisinfo is an initiative by the European External Action Service that combats #disinformation, false narratives, manipulated facts, deepfakes, and misleading content, protecting the #EU and its citizens to ensure the integrity of information. Learn more on our website: https://lnkd.in/d9D54PNx #EUElections2024 #UseYourVote

🌐 Accountability as a goal of #cyberdiplomacy is a hot topic among policymakers. But what mechanisms drive accountability in #cyberspace? 🧬 The pursuit of accountability is like a chemical reaction where the reactants – power-wielder and accountability holder – are transformed, resulting in different products. ⚙️ In the context of the accountability discussion, catalysts are signals that activate the accountability mechanisms. Transmission belts are instruments/tools that support the catalyst and carry it through the accountability mechanism, and the cost is a sanction on the power-wielder. 🔗 Dive deeper into these dynamics in a recent research paper by Patryk Pawlak here: https://lnkd.in/dtw4gcy7

In an increasingly interconnected world, the threat of #disinformation is ever-present. False narratives, manipulated facts, #deepfakes, and misleading content have the power to disrupt societies and undermine democracies. Our latest ‘Good Cyber Stories’ video features EUvsDisinfo, an initiative by the European External Action Service. EUvsDisinfo is at the forefront of combating disinformation, working to protect the #EU and its citizens from deceptive narratives that seek to divide and destabilise. This initiative monitors, analyses, and exposes disinformation campaigns from external actors, whether they are state-sponsored media or non-state entities. They offer extensive resources, including reports, articles, and fact-checks, to uncover the truth and provide the public with accurate information. Together, we can create an informed and resilient society!   ▶️ Watch the story below or here: https://lnkd.in/dwaARKSm ▶️ Read more about the project: https://lnkd.in/d9D54PNx

BLOG | How African states can promote the common African position on the applicability of international law in the OEWG To realise an open, peaceful, secure, and stable cyberspace, responsible actors have no time to lose in supporting and promoting the Common African Position (#CAP) in the OEWG. African member states have made up about 30% of speakers in the substantive sessions of the #OEWG on security of and in the use of ICTs. However, they are also among the most vulnerable to malicious ICT activities, which have the potential to affect some of the region’s biggest economies. In our latest #DirectionsBlog article, Moliehi M. shares perspectives on the recent CAPs on the application of international law to the use of ICTs in #cyberspace (CAP on IL) and proposes tools that African member states can deploy to promote the CAP in the OEWG. 📌 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/djk9JEc7

Today, we hosted another #EUCDfellowship session, delving into the critical issues of global cybersecurity cooperation and digital diplomacy. For many countries, driving digital transformation is a top priority in diplomatic engagements. While the impact of innovation and technology as drivers of growth is clear, their rapid advancement and increasing complexity of emerging technologies pose significant challenges to traditional regulatory approaches and value systems. We had the privilege of hearing from experts Martin Ulbrich and Raluca Csernatoni, PhD, who shared their insights on the evolving trends, debates and policy dilemmas in the nexus of digital transformation, access, and security. Our discussion covered key topics such as international digital cooperation, disruptive technologies, as well as standardisation and data governance. A big thank you to our speakers and to all the Fellows who actively participated in the discussions and Q&A session.