MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. A mistake in the use of information and communication technologies can lead to an all-out war, which explains why Russia wants to stop further deterioration of the situation in this sphere, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's International Information Security Department and special representative to the president on international cooperation on information security, Artur Lyukmanov, has said.
"We want to halt further deterioration," Lyukmanov said. "A mistake in the use of ICTs may lead to a direct conflict, an all-out war, especially since that the White House is aware that Russia has all the necessary capabilities to defend itself. A devastative computer attack against our critical information infrastructure will not be left without response," Lyukmanov's commentary to Newsweek magazine reads.
The diplomat emphasized that engaging in dialogue was the right way of preventing an escalation.
"The goal is to have an international legal framework, as it is not for two or 20 countries to decide on security in the use of ICTs, which are transborder in their functions," he said.
Lyukmanov pointed out that "the next step should be making these arrangements mandatory for all countries."
In this regard, he recalled that according to the mandate of the open-ended working group in May 2023, "Russia and a group of like-minded states submitted its own concept of what such a multilateral convention should look like."
"It is an invitation to start working on a universal treaty which would provide an equal basis for cooperation between UN member states and help them overcome the digital divide," Lyukmanov said.
The special presidential representative also drew attention to the fact that such an approach, including that to the development of a global agreement, was shared by a vast majority of countries. The launch of negotiations on a convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes is a strong proof of this, Lyukmanov stated.
"There is little doubt that eventually common sense will prevail among other governments, including the US, when it comes to the need for prevention of a conflict situation with an unpredictable outcome as a result of a transborder and anonymous computer attack," Lyukmanov concluded.