Pirates of Cyberspace

Abstract

Cyberpirates have become a challenge to the security of nation-states in a context of increased dependency over computers and worldwide networks interconnection. China seems to be emerging as a major threat on the cybercrime scene. Denial-ofservice attacks by botnets, phishing, spams, scams, swindle... cyberattacks can take different forms and don't necessarily bear geopolitical consequences. They can be pure fraud, intelligence or cyberwar attacks. These different types are hard to distinguish since identifying and localizing pirates is technically very challenging. Fighting cyberattacks is politically equally challenging as it can threaten civil liberties and would involve international cooperation in a context of information warfare where nation-states have a vested interest in defending their information supremacy.