USA, Russia Join Forces in the Fight Against Cyber Crime

In the past, Russia and America were rivals. But now, it appears that that two are joining forces to fight a common foe, with hopes of tightening Internet security for the near and distant future.

Insiders are calling the talks a new-age Geneva, akin to the nuclear arms discussions of an older generation. The purpose of these new meetings is to reduce the number of hacker attacks on major institutions, including government agencies, banks, businesses, and the military. According to reports, it's believed a common policy on cyber security will help reduce the number of these attacks, some of which originate in Russia and target American firms.

Devastating Cyber Attacks Spur International Talks

"Both sides are making positive noises," said James Lewis, senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "We've never seen that before." (Source: guardian.co.uk)

Arousing much fear amongst the American and Russian governments, and the rest of the world, too, were a series of massive cyber attacks between Russian and Georgia. A similar incident in 2007 virtually paralyzed the Estonian government. Hitting closer to home, an early 2009 stateside hack led to the leakage of plans for a multi-billion dollar fighter aircraft developed jointly by the Americans, British, Dutch, and Israelis.

A Cohesive Transnational Policy on Cyber Crime

The goals of the U.S. and Russia are similar. It's reported that the United States simply wants some effective cooperation on the matter, while Russia is looking to organize the signing of a cohesive transnational policy on cyber crime.

Lewis says he knows that the Russians have thus far met with U.S. military officials and representatives from the state department and various security agencies in Washington to discuss the issue. The New York Times has suggested that the White House plans to meet with United Nations committees regarding international cyber threats sometime in the new year.

Obama: Cyber Terrorism "is Real"

The talks fall in line with U.S. President Barack Obama's speeches on the topic back in May. "Cyberspace is real, and so is the risk that comes with it," he said at that time. "From now on, our digital infrastructure will be treated as a strategic asset."

As for international relations between the two former Cold War superpowers, don't think this is necessarily a sign that the Bald Eagle and the Russian Bear are chums just yet. Part of the motivation for these talks is to discuss more extensive cyberspace disarmament, an idea Russia has been pushing hard for, and the Americans have been hesitant to support. (Source: chattahbox.com)