A digital attack can now shut down a power grid, freeze a hospital or empty a banking system, without a single shot fired. President Macky Sall, a candidate for UN Secretary-General, counts cyberspace among the fields of peace, because war has moved into it faster than the law that governs it.
Cyber weapons and blurred rules. States acquire digital weapons while the line between the permitted and the forbidden stays blurred. That legal vacuum benefits whoever strikes unseen: an anonymous attack launched from one territory against another often escapes any attribution and any sanction.
Eleven norms endorsed at the United Nations. The member states of the United Nations have endorsed eleven norms of responsible behaviour in cyberspace: do not target civilian infrastructure, do not host attacks, cooperate in the face of incidents. These rules still have to be made binding and verifiable, a task the Secretary-General can keep open.
Civilian targets. Hospitals, water, energy, elections rank among the most sensitive targets, and all of them are civilian. Now part of security itself, digital security calls for an international framework that places them out of reach, as the law of war protects non-combatants.
A common floor at the UN. No country protects itself alone when an attack crosses the world in a second. The Secretary-General can gather states around a common floor and support the working group the UN already devotes to digital security.
Negotiated rules and the vision for the UN. Negotiating rules among states draws on the experience President Macky Sall gained in twelve years as head of state and in the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace and security conceived with development; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The norms of responsible behaviour in cyberspace adopted at the United Nations are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net