Confidence and Security Building Measures for Cyber Forces

Many governments are preparing cyber armed forces with an arms race well underway. Offensive preparations increase threats and create uncertainty, leading to military instability and escalation risks. Arms control of cyber forces would contain such dangers but is very difficult to attain. As in other military areas, confidence (and security) building measures (C(S)BMs) can act as first steps toward this goal, creating transparency and reducing misperceptions and suspicions. Concepts for voluntary CBMs have been developed in the United Nations and are being implemented in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Such activities should be improved by explicitly including the armed forces and making agreements politically binding, as with the OSCE CSBMs for conventional forces. Transferring these measures to the cyber realm would be very intrusive in some cases, especially regarding information exchange about cyber weapons and observation of military exercises. Acceptable procedures may be exchanging information about force structures, policies, and doctrines as well as keeping contacts and conducting visits.