This is the position paper I did for CIMUN XI, where I was in the SPECPOL committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee).

TOPIC B: Reducing the threat of cyber warfare

Cyber warfare is defined by the member of the USA National Security Council, Richard A. Clarke as "actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption". Cyber warfare is the hacking by experts to damage another country from computers, using the Internet as a weapon. The Internet is an international computer network that has affected in drastic way the commercial, educational and governmental aspects of the actual times.  Cyber warfare is a conflict involving the Internet where people can steal money from banks, operate transportation and hospitalization systems, and damage a nation’s weapon systems. Recent cases where cyber warfare was used as a method of action include Brazil in January 2005 where 3 cities where affected; Estonia on September 2007 where more than 3 million people were damaged; Vitoria where a company paid $7,000,000 for actions they didn’t committed. The UN human rights chief voices concern at reported ‘cyber war’ against WikiLeaks on December 2010. Cyber warfare is becoming a common method for extracting confidential information and is causing damaged beyond expectations.   

Italy is against the method of cyber warfare. My country is currently not familiar with this type of attacks, nevertheless analysts and decision-makers are looking and researching its dangers and different types of incomes to be prepare in every possible scenario. The existing security in the cyber warfare threats consists of the police, the military and governmental departments, but it’s looking forward to expanding its security as well as its knowledge about the topic. Taking in consideration the attacks on Estonia on 2007, an Italian official said that the defense are protecting its networks to combat cyber threats, but some observers said that it is not involved in security work.

In light of this conflict, my delegation proposes the following solutions, which are on the way of being implemented or are already in practice by our government to avoid being a victim of cyber warfare. First, in order to eliminate the constant threat, Italy suggests all delegations to increase web security on their electronic databases and research engines by hiring professionals of software security, second, Italy suggests the start of an international awareness program that would be dedicated to inform the general population about the possible risks that relaying without caution on online transactions and information storage may cause. Last, Italy believes that a proper legislation of these crimes must be set in place.