International Legal Aspects of Cybersecurity

INTRODUCTION. In the modern world, the number of crimes committed in cyberspace has significantly increased. New types of malware used to achieve illegal goals appear regularly. According to experts, the material damage to the global economy from crimes committed with the help of information and communication technologies amounts to trillions of US dollars. Such a scale requires effective means of legal regulation of relations in cyberspace. Cybersecurity is considered one of the most relevant topics of current international law, which is extremely important for ensuring the national security of states. Information and communication technologies can be used to negatively affect economic, social, cultural and political relations, to damage the economic, military, and defense potential of the state and society. In this regard, the international community is deeply interested in developing a multilateral legal framework for cooperation in the field of cybersecurity. However, a unified approach to solving this problem in the international arena has not yet been developed. Legal regulation of cyberspace is very complex due to the virtual interface characteristics of this area.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The material for the study is the works of Russian and foreign researchers in the field of international law, international legal

acts adopted in the framework of the UN and the European Union, draft UN conventions, national regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China and other states as well as judicial practice of international courts. Th research methodology is based on general and specific scientific methods of cognition (the dialectical method, methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, comparative legal and historical legal methods).

RESEARCH RESULTS. The analysis showed that despite the applicability of the principles and rules of current international law to the information sphere, the universalization of the international legal regulation of cyberspace is required, taking into account its characteristics and in order to effectively combat the use of information and communication technologies for illegal purposes. The efforts of states to develop special rules of conduct in cyberspace are currently concentrated on a narrow sphere of issues related to human rights, data privacy, etc. Not all states are interested in creating a modern and effective mechanism for cooperation in cyberspace. Many states are openly opposing the development of new international legal instruments. For this reason, the Russian initiative to adopt the UN Convention on Cooperation in Combating Information Crimes has not been support-ed. This fact has entailed the absence of a full-fledged universal international legal framework for cooperation in the field of cyberspace.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Based on the analysis of doctrine and practice, the authors conclude that there is a need to create a universal international legal framework for cooperation in the fi ld of cyberspace. In modern international law, cybersecurity is one of the most pressing problems directly related to state security. The difference in the approaches of states to the problem of ensuring cybersecurity at the present stage entails the absence of an effective multilateral legal framework for cooperation in this area.

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