UN official warns digital technologies open areas for attack

The U.N. disarmament chief is warning that digital technologies are lowering barriers to malicious intrusions and opening potential areas for governments, armed groups, terrorists and criminals to carry out attacks, including across international borders

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. disarmament chief warned Tuesday that digital technologies are lowering barriers to malicious intrusions and opening potential areas for governments, armed groups, terrorists and criminals to carry out attacks, including across international borders. Izumi Nakamitsu told a U.N. Security Council meeting on cybersecurity that there has been “a dramatic increase in the frequency of malicious incidents in recent years” ranging from disinformation to the disruption of computer networks which are contributing to “a diminishing trust and confidence” among nations. The political and technical difficulty of determining responsibility for cyber attacks “could result in significant consequences, including in unintended armed responses and escalation,” she warned. “These dynamics can encourage states to adopt offensive postures for the hostile use of these technologies.” As of January, Nakamitsu said, there were over 4.6 billion active users of the internet worldwide and it’s estimated there will be 28.5 billion “networked devices” connected to the internet by 2022, a significant increase from 18 billion in 2017.