The Role of BRICS in the International ICT Security Regime

The ubiquitous implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is giving rise to cross-border security threats that require joint international responses. Fragmentation and growing conflict in the global information space complicates international cooperation within the UN to form a comprehensive global information security regime. Western countries actively support the formation of a cyber security regime based on Western values and promoted as a general initiative of the international community without taking into account the position of developing countries. An alternative approach focused on securing digital sovereignty is being promoted by many non-Western negotiating platforms, among which the BRICS occupies an important place. This article aims to assess the potential of BRICS influence in the framework of the international ICT security regime and the main directions of the BRICS activities in this area. In this paper, the BRICS agenda in the field of ICT security is studied on the basis of official documents of the annual summits and the main commitment made by the BRICS. The discourse analysis of the strategic planning documents of the BRICS countries allows to identify their priorities in the area under consideration, and to assess the potential for the implementation of the achieved obligations at the BRICS level. All the BRICS countries focus on ensuring sovereignty in the field of ICT. However, Russia, India and China consider digital development and ICT security as the most important direction of state policy and international cooperation; at the same time, they are more advanced in the field of digital technologies compared to other countries of the five and, as a result, are more vulnerable. In turn, Brazil and South Africa do not consider this area as a priority, placing more emphasis on ICT development and being more interested in access to technology and bridging the digital divide. However, all five countries are interested in solving the problem of extremism and terrorism in the digital sphere, which is also a promising area for the BRICS multilateral cooperation. A study of the voting of the BRICS countries in the UN and an analysis of their participation in alternative initiatives in the field of forming a cyber security regime promoted by Western countries showed the high efficiency of BRICS as a negotiating platform - the main contribution is made by developing a common position on the norms and principles of the international information security regime and their support at the UN level. Thus, BRICS can make a constructive contribution to the formation of the norms and principles of the international ICT security regime based on the principles of respect for state sovereignty, internationalization of the Internet governance, and counteraction to the criminal use of ICTs. An important advantage of BRICS in this area is the possibility of aggregating the interests and positions of developing countries.

1. Alpeev A.S. (2014). Terminologiya bezopasnosti: kiberbezopasnost', informacionnaja bezopasnost' [Terminology of Security: Cybersecurity, Information Security]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No. 5 (8). P. 39–42.

2. Abdenur, A. (2017). Can BRICS Cooperate in International Security? Vestnik mezhdunarodnykh organizatsij. Vol. 12. No. 3. P. 73–95.

3. Bezkorovajnyj M.M., Tatuzov A.L. (2014). Kiberbezopasnost' – podhody k opredeleniju ponjatija [Cybersecurity: Approaches to the Definition]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No. 1 (2). P. 22–27.

4. Belli L. (ed.) (2021). CyberBRICS: Cybersecurity Regulations in the BRICS Countries. Cham: Springer Nature. 280 p.

5. Bojko S.M. (2019). Problematika mezhdunarodnoj informatsionnoj bezopasnosti na ploshhadkakh ShOS i BRIKS [Problems of International Information Security at the SCO and BRICS Platforms] Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn'. No.1. P. 1–22.

6. Bojko S.M. (2022). Mezhdunarodnaja informatsionnaja bezopasnost': novye vyzovy i ugrozy [International Information Security: New Challenges and Threats]. Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn’. URL: https://interaffairs. ru/jauthor/material/2738 (accessed: 18.05.2023).

7. Bukht R., Hiks R. (2018). Opredelenie, konceptsiya i izmerenie tsifrovoj jekonomiki [Defining, Conceptualising and Measuring the Digital Economy]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnyh organizacij. Vol. 13. No.2. P. 143–172. DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2018-02-07

8. Chikhachev A.Yu. (2022). Rossijsko-francuzskie otnoshenija pri prezidente Jemmanjujele Makrone: dostizhenija i protivorechija [Russia-France Relations During E. Macrons’s Term: Achievements and Challenges]. Vestnik SPbGU. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija. Vol. 15. P. 86–104.

9. Fick N., Miscik J. (2022). Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet. URL: https://www.cfr.org/task-force-report/confronting-reality-in-cyberspace (accessed: 16.05.2023).

10. Global Governance Program (2020). Compliance Coding Manual for International Institutional Commitments. URL: http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/compliance/Compliance_Coding_Manual_2020.pdf (accessed: 11.09.2022).

11. Hurel L.M., Lobato L. C. (2020). Cyber security in Brazil: keeping silos or building bridges? In: Romaniuk S.N., Manjikian M. (eds.) Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-security Strategy. London, Routledge. 656 p.

12. Ignatov A.A. (2020). Tsifrovaya jekonomika v BRIKS: Perspektivy mezhdunarodnogo sotrudnichestva [The Digital Economy of BRICS: Prospects for Multilateral Cooperation]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnyh organizatsij. Vol. 15. No.1. P. 31–62. DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2020-01-02

13. Ignatov A.A. (2022). Upravlenie Internetom v povestke BRIKS [The BRICS Agenda on the Internet Governance]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnyh organizatsij. Vol. 17. No 2. P. 86–109. DOI: 10.17323/1996- 7845-2022-02-04

14. Kadulin V.E., Klochkova E.N. (2017). Sootnoshenie ponjatij “informacionnaya bezopasnost'” i “kiberbezopasnost'” v sovremennom pravovom pole [Correlation of Terms “Information Security” and “Cybersecurity” in Modern International Law]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No. 2 (20). P. 7–10.

15. Karchija A.A. (2014). Kiberbezopasnost' i intellektual'naja sobstvennost'. Chast' 1 [Cybersecurity and Intellectual Property. Part 1]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No.1 (2). P. 61–66.

16. Karpova D.N. (2014). Kiberprestupnost': global'naja problema i ee reshenie [Cybersecurity: Global Problem and Solution]. Vlast'. No. 8. P. 46–50.

17. KHabrieva T.Ya, Rujpin D. (Eds.) (2017). Kiberprostranstvo BRIKS: pravovoe izmerenie [BRICS Cyberdomain: Legislative Framework]. M.: Institut zakonodatel'stva i sravnitel'nogo pravovedenija pri Pravitel'stve Rossijskoj Federacii. 336 p.

18. KHegaturov A. (2019). Kibermoshh' Irana [Iran’s Cyberpower]. Rossijskij sovet po mezhdunarodnym delam. URL: https://russiancouncil.ru/activity/digest/longreads/kibermoshch-irana/ (accessed: 19.12.2023).

19. Kirton J., Wang A.X. (2022). China’s Complex Leadership in G20 and Global Governance: From Hangzhou 2016 to Kunming 2021. Chinese Political Science Review. P. 331–380. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/ s41111-022-00213-9

20. Krasner S. (1982). Regimes and the limits of realism: Regimes as autonomous variables. International Organization. Vol. 36 (2). P . 497–510.

21. Krutskikh A.V. (2007). K politiko-pravovym osnovanijam global'noj informacionnoj bezopasnosti [On Political and Normative Foundations of Global Information Security]. Mezhdunarodnye processy. Vol. 5. No. 1(13). P. 28–37.

22. Krutskikh A.V. (2022). Mezhdunarodnaja informacionnaja bezopasnost': v poiskah konsolidirovannyh podhodov [International Information Security: In Search for Consolidated Approaches]. Vestnik RUDN. Serija: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija. Vol. 22. No. 2. P. 342–351.

23. Krutskikh A.V., Streltsov A.A. (2014). Mezhdunarodnoe pravo i problema obespechenija mezhdunarodnoj informacionnoj bezopasnosti [International Law and Issue of International Information Security Provision]. Mezhdunarodnaja zhizn'. No. 11. P. 20–34.

24. Kupriyanov A.V. (2019). Indija v jepokhu kibervojn [India in Times of Cyberwars]. URL: https:// russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/indiya-v-epokhu-kibervoyn/ (accessed: 04.08.2022).

25. Kuznetsov D.A. (2020). Setevaja tekstura mirovoj politiki: transregionalizm BRIKS [Network Texture of World Politics: Transregionalism of BRICS]. Mirovaja jekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. Vol. 64. No. 11. P. 124–131.

26. Larionova M.V., Ignatov A.A., Popova I.M., Saharov A.G., Shelepov A.V. (2020). Desjat' let BRIKS: chto dal'she? [BRICS at Ten: The Way Forward]. M.: Delo, RANHiGS. 73 p.

27. Lebedeva M.M., Kuznetsov D.A. (2019). Transregionalizm – novyj fenomen mirovoj politiki // Polis [Transregional Integration as a New Phenomenon of World Politics: Nature and Prospects]. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya. No. 5. P. 71–84. DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2019.05.06

28. Lesazh, D. (2014). Tekushhaja programma dejstvij «Gruppy dvadcati» v sfere nalogooblozhenija: ispolnenie objazatel'stv, otchetnost' i legitimnost' [The Current G20 Taxation Agenda: Compliance, Accountability and Legitimacy]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnyh organizatsij. Vol. 9. No. 4. P. 40–54.

29. Massel' L.V., Voropaj N.I., Senderov S.M., Massel' A.G. (2016). Kiberopasnost' kak odna iz strategicheskih ugroz jenergeticheskoj bezopasnosti Rossii [Cybersecurity as One of Strategic Threats to Russia’s Energy Security]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No. 4 (17). P. 1–10.

30. Malyuk A.A., Polyanskaya O.Ju. (2016). Zarubezhnyj opyt formirovanija v obshhestve kul'tury informacionnoj bezopasnosti [Fostering Information Security Culture: International Experience]. Bezopasnost' informacionnyh tehnologij. Vol. 23. No. 4. P. 25–37.

31. Mikhalevich E.A. (2017). Rossijsko-kitajskoe vzaimodejstvie po obespecheniju bezopasnosti v kiberprostranstve v ramkah BRIKS [Russia-China Cooperation in Cybersecurity Provision within BRICS]. Svobodnaja mysl'. No. 6 (1684). P. 155–160.

32. Panova V.V. (2015). Problemy bezopasnosti i perspektivy sammita BRIKS v Ufe [The BRICS Security Agenda and Prospects for the BRICS Ufa Summit]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnyh organizacij. Vol. 10. No. 2. P. 119–139.

33. Perminov V.A. (2019). Sektor informacionno-kommunikacionnyh tehnologij Brazilii: istorija, sovremennoe polozhenie i tendencii razvitija [Information and Communication Technologies Sector in Brazil: Histroty, Current State of Affairs, and Development Prospects]. Jekonomicheskie otnoshenija. Vol. 9. No. 3. P. 1519–1532.

34. Romashkina N.P. (2020). Problema mezhdunarodnoj informacionnoj bezopasnosti v OON [International Information Security Issue at the UN]. Mirovaja jekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija. Vol. 64. No.12. P. 25–32.

35. Romashkina N.P., Zadremajlova V.G. (2020). Jevoljutsija politiki KNR v oblasti informacionnoj bezopasnosti [China’s Information Security Policy Evolution]. Put' k miru i bezopasnosti. No.1 (58). P. 122–138. DOI: 10.20542/2307-1494-2020-1-122-138

36. Stadnik I.T., Tsvetkova N.A. (2021). Mesto i rol' stran Latinskoj Ameriki v sisteme mezhdunarodnoj i regional'noj kiberbezopasnosti [Latin American Countries Position Within Regional and Global Cybersecurity Systems]. Latinskaya Amerika. No. 4. P. 69–84.

37. Nye J.S. (2014). The Regime Complex for Managing Global Cyber Activities. URL: https://www.cigionline. org/sites/default/files/gcig_paper_no1.pdf (accessed: 11.09.2022).

38. Orji U. J. (2018). The African Union Convention on Cybersecurity: A Regional Response Towards Cyber Stability? Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology. Vol. 12. No. 2. P. 91–130. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.5817/MUJLT2018-2-1

39. Vang A.S. (2022). Model' liderstva Kitaja v BRIKS [China’s Leadership in BRICS Governance]. Vestnik mezhdunarodnykh organizatsij. Vol.17. No. 2. P. 50–85. DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2022-02-03

40. Zgoba A.I., Markelov D.V., Smirnov P.I. (2014). Kiberbezopasnost’: ugrozy, vyzovy, reshenija [Cybersecurity: Threats, Challenges, Solutions]. Voprosy kiberbezopasnosti. No.5 (8). P. 30–38.

41. Zinovieva E.S. (2019). Mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnichestvo po obespecheniju informacionnoj bezopasnosti: subjekty i tendentsii jevolyutsii. [International Cooperation on Information Security Provision: Subjects and Evolution Tendencies] Diss. Na soiskanie uch.step. doktora nauk. M.: MGIMO. 362 p.

42. Zinovieva E.S. (2023). Mezhdunarodnaja informatsionnaya bezopasnost' v dvustoronnikh otnosheniyakh Rossii i SShA [International Information Security in Russia-USA Bilateral Relations]. Rossijskij sovet po mezhdunarodnym delam. URL: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/ mezhdunarodnaya-informatsionnaya-bezopasnost-v-dvustoronnikh-otnosheniyakh-rossii-issha/?sphrase_id=98721820 (accessed: 18.05.2023).

43. Zinovieva E.S., Mishhishina E.E. (2022). Formirovanie universal'noj terminologii v sfere MIB: politicheskie aspekty [Formation of Universal Methodology in the Sphere of International Information Security: Political Aspects]. Rossijskij sovet po mezhdunarodnym delam. URL: https://russiancouncil.ru/ analytics-and-comments/analytics/formirovanie-universalnoy-terminologii-v-sfere-mib-politicheskieaspekty/ (accessed: 16.05.2023).