III. Cyberspace and the malicious use of information and communications technology

Chapter:

13. Conventional arms control and regulation of new weapon technologies

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2021

Author(s):

Laura Bruun, Ian Davis, Nivedita Raju, Luke Richards, Pieter D. Wezeman, Siemon T. Wezeman

As the cyber landscape develops, so too do cybersecurity threats—both from states and non-state actors such as cybercriminals. Notably, alongside the significant digitalization driven by the Covid‑19 pandemic, which led to years of digital adoption being achieved in mere weeks, there was a 600 per cent increase in malicious emails attempting to exploit the growing digital dependency.¹ Computational propaganda—such as the use of cyber-influence operations and the spreading of disinformation—by state and non-state actors also increased around the globe.² Growing geopolitical tensions around the security of information and communications technology (ICT) have also led states to increase their scrutiny of ICT supply chains.³