Microsoft May Want to Help Make Global Policy
February 22, 2017
Denmark is ahead of the game. As we reported last week (February 14, 2017), Denmark has created an ambassador to liaise with big US high technology companies. Microsoft qualifies because it is big and has hundreds of employees in Plastic Fantastic Land and in San Francisco.
The policy idea appeared in “’Digital Geneva Convention’ Needed to Deter Nation-State Hacking: Microsoft President.” Sounds like a great idea. How do those “conventions” for use of certain types of weapons or building an arsenal work? How does one know if a party to the convention is playing by the rules? How does one determine if a clever 16 year old in Moldova is goofing off or working for a government entity or a cut out or a plain old bad guy?
Hey, annoying details, right?
The write up said:
Microsoft President Brad Smith on Tuesday pressed the world’s governments to form an international body to protect civilians from state-sponsored hacking, saying recent high-profile attacks showed a need for global norms to police government activity in cyberspace.
I noted this passage:
Smith likened such an organization, which would include technical experts from governments and the private sector, to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a watchdog based at the United Nations that works to deter the use of nuclear weapons.
Yeah, about those nuclear weapons.
Perhaps Microsoft will become the head of US cyber policy. Nice work if one can get it. Then Microsoft can use its Windows 10 upgrade expertise to convince people to do what the “policy” in the “convention” says. Microsoft may want to talk with IBM Watson about cybersecurity, or step back and think about the people compromising systems and the non US companies in this game.
Better yet, Microsoft could buy Gamma Group, Hacking Team, and five or six other companies and dig into their customer list, the tasks these outfits perform, and the ideological orientation of the companies’ employees.
Ah, Microsoft. Thinking big. Perhaps a trip to Denmark is next.
Stephen E Arnold, February 22, 2017
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