International legal framework for information security: problems and priorities

Duben' Andrei Kirillovich Scientific Associate, Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Assistant, Department of Civil and Administrative Proceedings, Russian State University of Justice 119019, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Znamenka str., 10 k.duben@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The emergence of new information and communication technologies and the development of the digital environment and innovations in the information space of society allow us to testify to the increasing stability of the system of international relations, based on both international and information law and universal principles of legal regulation, which are aimed at joint solutions to global and regional problems, where the United Nations plays a central and coordinating role (hereinafter referred to as the UN). In the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of International Information Security (hereinafter – Fundamentals, IIB, respectively)  For the first time, the need to take into account the national interests of the Russian Federation when implementing a set of coordinated measures aimed at forming a system of ensuring international information security within the framework of state policy is pointed out.

The relevance of the study is also confirmed by the fact that the impact of digital transformation and the dynamic development of information and telecommunication technologies indicate the strengthening of the role and importance of information security in the national security system. In accordance with the normative legal acts that define the national interests and the corresponding strategic national priorities of the state, it is established that special attention is paid to information security issues.

As T.A. Polyakova notes, information security, which is one of the key components of national security, is a complex, dynamically developing system that has regular connections between its elements, processes of organization and self-organization, principles of functioning and development. In this regard, the Information Security Doctrine (2016) in modern conditions requires the transformation of certain legal norms, taking into account constitutional and legal novelties and new scientific and legal conceptions with developed approaches to solving priority goals and objectives ^{[1, p. 49]}. Thus, the need to improve the legal provision of information security, including in the field of international cooperation, is beyond doubt.

It should be particularly noted that paragraph 56 of the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy) defines the strengthening of cooperation of the Russian Federation with foreign partners in the field of information security as the goals of ensuring national security. In paragraph 26 of the Strategy, information security, along with the defense of the country, is noted as national priorities, on which efforts should be concentrated to ensure and protect the national interests of the Russian Federation ^[2]. In this regard, the Strategy emphasizes threats from other states, including the intensification of the activities of special services of foreign states to conduct intelligence and other operations in the Russian information space. This circumstance also makes it necessary to improve the legal provision of national security in the implementation of international cooperation. Meanwhile, paragraph 11 of the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of international Information Security determines that one of the main directions of the implementation of the state policy in the field of IIB is the creation of conditions for the adoption by the UN Member states of the Convention on the Provision of IIB ^[3]. We believe that the implementation of this initiative seems impossible without improving the legal provision of information security in the implementation of international cooperation. It follows from this that the legal provision of information security, including in the implementation of international cooperation, at the present stage is an extremely important task for ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation.

As E.I. Narkhova and O.S.Lobanova rightly point out, the main goal of Russia's policy in the field of IIB is to promote the establishment of an international legal regime that creates conditions for preventing interstate conflicts in the global information space. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the tasks of developing cooperation at the global, regional, multilateral and bilateral levels of the Russian Federation with foreign states on the formation of a global information security system ^{[4, p. 77]}.

The relevance of information security issues in the implementation of international cooperation is confirmed by the fact that in 2021, the UN Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on security issues in the use of ICTs and ICTs themselves 2021-2025, established on the Russian initiative for a five-year period, began its activities at the UN site. In the area of combating the use of ICT for criminal purposes, the real breakthrough was the launch, on the initiative of Russia, of an absolutely new global negotiating track – a Special Committee whose task is to develop a comprehensive international convention on combating information crime. We believe that the adoption of this normative legal act is very relevant in modern international and information law, because in the context of the steady growth of ICT crime, which, in turn, threatens the security of the state, is of particular importance in the light of new challenges and threats to the national security of the state. Thus, there is no doubt that there is a need to improve the legal provision of information security both at the international and national levels, including in the field of international cooperation between States.

It is worth noting that the main foreign policy priority of the Russian Federation in the field of international information security remains the formation of a global IIB system based on the principles of conflict prevention in the information space and the promotion of the use of ICT for peaceful purposes ^{[5, p.5]}.

The issues of legal support of international information security are also relevant in the light of the unresolved issues of the applicability of international law to relations in the field of ICT at the international level.

As Yu.A. Yanosokirsky rightly answers, despite long-term discussions, the international community has not developed uniform rules for determining the basic categories of applicability of international law to the ICT environment ^{[6, p.13]}. In this context, the importance of ensuring international cooperation between States in the implementation of information interaction is increasing more than ever. The Russian Federation consistently initiates the unification of the international community to jointly search for ways and means in the field of the use of ICTs and ICTs themselves by developing rules, norms and principles of responsible behavior of States on an international basis, confidence-building measures and increasing the predictability of the cyber environment. To date, work in this direction continues, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly noted: "tasks on international information security issues are coming to the forefront of the interstate agenda, a common position has been formed that the Russian Federation in this matter is a supporter of consolidating efforts in the interests of effectively resolving issues on this topic" ^[7]. It is important to emphasize that today, the Russian Federation has a number of initiatives on the legal regulation of international information security, so one of the latest initiatives is the creation of a universal international code of conduct in the cybersphere.

The relevance of the study is also confirmed by the fact that recently the information space has been turning into a theater of military operations. S.K. Shoigu, in this regard, during the government hour in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the state and directions of development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on March 25, 2020, noted that "the information space today has become another theater of military operations. Over the past three years, more than 25 thousand high-tech computer attacks from abroad have been carried out on the information infrastructure of the Armed Forces. At the same time, their number increases annually by an average of 12%" ^[8]. Thus, the issues of legal provision of information security in the field of national defense are of particular relevance both theoretically and practically. In paragraph 11 of the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation, it is noted that there is a tendency to shift military dangers and military threats into the information space of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, it should be noted the increased interest of the international community in the issues of unarmed interference in the internal affairs of other States using information and communication technologies. Thus, the scientific community proposes to include this issue in the agenda of international formats dealing with international information security (UN, OSCE, ARF, etc.), which indicates the need to improve the legal regulation of information security in the implementation of international cooperation.

As a positive aspect of the implementation of Russian initiatives in the field of information security in the implementation of international cooperation within the UN parameters, it should be noted that in 2018, at the initiative of the Russian side, a fundamentally new format was launched to ensure the IIB – the UN Open-ended Working Group on Promoting Responsible Behavior of states in Cyberspace in the Context of International Security, participation in which It is accepted by all 193 UN member states.

The relevance of the study is also confirmed by the fact that due to the specifics of the information and communication sphere as an object of regulation, existing norms of international law cannot be applied in it by simple extrapolation. In this regard, it seems necessary to adapt the existing international legal norms, which will allow to develop new specific norms and mechanisms of international legal regulation of the use of ICT. From these positions, the Russian Federation acts on international platforms, primarily in the UN. Consequently, one of the main tasks is to develop a global and universal regulatory legal act in the field of the use of ICT by analogy with similar agreements in the field of arms limitation, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons ^{[9, p. 15]}. Therefore, in our opinion, further normative work is required, coordination of States on the main directions in the field of ICT, including the signing of multilateral agreements and bilateral treaties, followed by the emergence of appropriate mechanisms to create an information world and prevent conflicts in the field of ICT.

To implement these tasks, the Russian Federation insists on taking a number of coordinated measures within the UN system, including, in particular, ensuring stable and safe functioning of the Internet information and telecommunications network on the basis of international law; preserving the sovereign right of states to regulate the national segment of the Internet information and telecommunications network; increasing the level of coordination of international, regional and national efforts in the field of management of the Internet information and telecommunications network; development at the interstate level of a global policy in the field of management of information and telecommunications networks. We believe that the implementation of these initiatives is impossible without improving the legal provision of information security in the implementation of international cooperation.

It is worth noting that the paradigm of interstate conflicts has changed qualitatively in recent years. The boundaries between confrontation and rivalry are blurred. The information environment, along with land, air, sea and outer space, is turning into a full-fledged theater of military-political confrontation.

At the same time, one of the principles of the Concept of the Convention on International Information Security, proposed for discussion to the world community by the Russian Federation, is the inalienable right of each participating State to deploy its forces and means of ensuring information security on the territory of another state in accordance with the agreement developed by them on a voluntary basis during negotiations, as well as in accordance with international law ^{[10, p. 316]}. In this regard, the relevance of the issues of legal provision of information security in the implementation of international cooperation is increasing. At the same time, achieving the goal of ensuring information security is impossible without Russia's mandatory participation in the process of solving information security tasks in all possible formats: bilateral, multilateral, regional and global ^{[11, p. 25]}.

For example, on November 30, 2017, an Agreement was signed on cooperation of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the field of information security ^[12], on June 16, 2009 – an agreement between the governments of the SCO member states on cooperation in the field of IIB ^[13]; on November 17, 2020, the Moscow Declaration of the XII BRICS Summit was adopted on security in the use of information and communication technologies ^[14]; on December 18, 2020, a Joint statement was adopted by the heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States on cooperation in the field of IIB provision ^[15]. As a priority at the meeting of the Security Council on March 26 , 2021 The President of the Russian Federation has designated a dialogue with partners in the CSTO, CIS, SCO and BRICS in order to promote and implement Russian initiatives ^{[16, p. 56]}. Cooperation with ASEAN member States has received a new impetus within the framework of the ASEAN Russia Dialogue on Issues related to the Security of information and communication technologies, the concept of which was approved on January 26, 2021 by a Meeting of Senior Officials of Russia and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers. Bilateral interdepartmental consultations have long been part of the practice of interaction between Russia and its partners, which resulted in the signing of intergovernmental agreements on cooperation in the field of ensuring the IIB with Brazil, Belarus, Cuba, China, India, South Africa, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Iran and Kyrgyzstan. It follows from this that the international cooperation of the Russian Federation in the field of information security indicates the relevance of the issues of improving the legal provision of information security in the implementation of international cooperation.

Thus, the existing interstate agreements in the field of international information security allowed us to establish problem-oriented approaches to identifying threats from other states. The urgency of the issue of improving the legal provision of information security in the field of international cooperation is evidenced by the clearly outlined intensification of cooperation of the Russian Federation within the framework of regional associations in the field of information security, as well as the conclusion of a number of international agreements and the adoption of joint statements in this area.