The International Legal Regime of Control over Cyber Weapons in the Future World Order: Threats and Prospects

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the growing number of problems in the global environment of information and communication technologies (ICT), which characterize the current crisis military-political situation. Until recently, experts from different countries spoke about many of them purely theoretically, and possible scenarios of using ICT for malicious infl uence on military critical infrastructure were sometimes even denied. Now this problem is not only recognized by the scientific and expert community, but we are already talking about the voiced facts of the practical use of cyber weapons, other information and cyber means in the conditions of the crisis. Thus, the malicious use of ICT can provoke the outbreak of an interstate military confl ict. First of all, because of the disproportionate use of methods of responding to threats and attacks, when the aff ected party can use real weapons in response. In addition, a confl ict may arise by mistake, since there is currently no universal methodology for identifying violators, criteria for classifying cyberattacks as an armed attack have not been worked out, universal principles for investigating incidents have not been formed. The issues of coordination of measures taken in response to information operations recognized as acts of use of force have not yet been resolved. As a result, information wars and the use of new technologies can become the detonator of an interstate military confl ict with the use of even nuclear weapons. Therefore, the question of the need for active actions of the "great powers" to prevent confl icts in the global information space, which in the conditions of military operations can develop into a global confl ict, is as relevant as possible. The article provides a factual analysis of ICT threats during the special military operation of Russia, explores the possibilities of creating an international regime for the prohibition of information (including cybernetic) weapons, the relevance and increasing importance of studying these processes by the scientific community. The article substantiates the formulation of the problem of international information security as part of a broader topic of international security against the background of global challenges.