A Measure of Restraint in Cyberspace: Reducing Risk to Civilian Nuclear Assets, released today at the Munich Security Conference by EWI President John Mroz, proposes four specific steps to limit the use of cyber weapons during peacetime. 

According to EWI Senior Vice President and former Homeland Security cyber official Bruce McConnell, “Given the potential risks to humanity and the planet, nations should refrain from attacking civilian nuclear assets using cyber weapons. It’s a concrete step to advance peace in cyberspace.”

McConnell and EWI co-authors Greg Austin, Nadiya Kostyuk and Eric Cappon argue that the four steps will insulate these peaceful assets from attack while a more comprehensive approach to the cyber arms race evolves. Anatoly Streltsov of Moscow State University’s Information Security Institute writes the report’s afterword, which includes additional recommendations.

“The EastWest Institute takes a refreshingly direct approach, drawing on the successful experiences of global arms control negotiations in non-cyber arenas,” ElBaradei, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, states in the preface. “I recommend this report to the delegates of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague this March.” 

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