Build a safer Internet for a safer world

As we move closer to connecting every person on the planet, our collective future depends on a unified global Internet – the foundation for continued innovation, communication and economic growth.

The Internet is shaped by everyone who touches it. Every e-mail, search query, blog posting and tweet is flowing into the great river of information. This openness and accessibility presents opportunities as well as risks. Anything attached to a network can be hacked.
Everything is being attached to networks and, therefore, everything is vulnerable.

To understand the risks and rewards we face, let’s look at the Cold War theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Based on this theory, a clash between two nuclear-armed superpowers could only end with the complete annihilation of both sides. Although this didn’t stop countries from stockpiling nuclear arms, it did change the nature of war and geopolitics, helping to secure a precarious peace among superpowers that has held for almost 70 years.

Nuclear MAD has now given way to a situation where we will all be disrupted, if not destroyed, by cyber attacks. If one government launches a full-scale cyberattack on another, it is likely to receive the same in kind. And they know it. Yet, this knowledge only partly works as a deterrent since cyber weapons are often difficult or impossible to detect and attribute. Instead of classic MAD’s nuclear stand-off, we are facing millions of cyberattacks every second.

I believe that our hope lies in a third model, where in fact we are bound together by mutual dependence on the internet. We rely on the Internet and each other for communications, commerce, power, travel, shipping, infrastructure – in fact, for almost everything we do. That makes Internet dependence a positive force that delivers incredible benefits to mankind.

The Internet helps all nations, no matter their political orientation. We may disagree on some aspects of its use, but most of us recognize the importance of keeping it working. Even those who hack and attack know that without the Internet, they couldn’t achieve their broader political, social or economic goals.

Escalating cyber attacks, economic conflict and political tension threaten our world. The Internet – and our mutual dependence on it –  helps hold it together. So how do we strengthen and safeguard it?

First, we need to develop a common understanding of the threat. Second, we must build global trust, for example by coordinating law enforcement efforts. Third, we need to use transparency and economic incentives to improve security. Lastly, we must support research and investment to build a more secure Internet.

Some might propose breaking up the Internet to protect their national interests, creating separate and self-­contained national networks. But, as we move steadily closer to connecting every person in the world, our economic future will depend even more on maintaining a unified global Internet. It’s the foundation for continued innovation and economic growth and a platform for communication across cultural borders and political boundaries.

The Internet is one of humankind’s greatest collective achievements and a tremendous shared resource. Protecting it is fundamental to our future. Let’s use it to bring sanity to our MAD world.

This post is part of a series from the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet. You can read more expert views here.

To explore The Innovation Engine infographic click on the image below:

 

 

 

Image: A man analyzes code in a cyber security defense lab REUTERS/Jim Urquhart 

Author: Rod Beckstrom is President of the Rod Beckstrom Group and is an Honorary Professor of International Law at the Beijing Normal University. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet.