The "Russian hackers" is the usual headline of the United States media when covering news on election fraud, data leakages, theft of technology or business plans, distributed denial of service attacks, phishing, malware or ransomware incidents.
No hard evidence linking Russia to malicious ICT activities has ever been provided via the existing bilateral hotlines with Washington established in 2013 to investigate computer attacks.
Instead, the US builds up offensive ICT-capabilities, conducts hunt-forward operations against Russia, and employs its agents abroad. Among them is the notorious "IT-army of Ukraine".
A similar purpose is served by a number of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation "cyberlaboratories" in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the US Cyber Strategy claims its National Security Agency's right to "punish" other states for wrongdoing in information space.
The US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, Naval Institute, government foundations and private companies are involved in preparations for "cognitive warfare".
Such an escalatory path adds to the risks of confrontation. Russia has voiced concerns about the NSA's illegal mass surveillance programme. It is prolonged every year with the extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and is applied beyond US borders.
The servants of this policy are big-data corporations that are no different from the East India Companies in the way they impose their interests on the rest of the world.
We want to halt further deterioration. A mistake in the use of ICTs may lead to a direct conflict. The White House is aware that Russia has the capabilities to defend itself. A devastative computer attack against our critical information infrastructure will not be left without response.
The right way to prevent escalation is to engage in dialogue. The goal is to have an international legal framework as it is not for two or 20 countries to decide on security in the use of ICT which are transborder in their functions.
A decade ago despite the difficult geopolitical situation Russia and the US, as well as other United Nations member states agreed on rules, norms and principles of responsible behaviour in information space, though Washington initially rejected the idea of voluntary obligations.
We believe the next step should be making these arrangements mandatory for all countries.
In 2021, Russia and the US initiated the UN General Assembly consensus resolution that supported the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on ICT security and paved the way for elaborating new binding norms.
In accordance with the group's mandate in March 2023, Russia and a group of like-minded countries presented a concept of convention on international information security.
It is an invitation to start working on a universal treaty which would provide an equal basis for cooperation between UN member states and help them overcome the digital divide.
Such an approach, i.e. a global agreement, is supported by an overwhelming majority of countries. A good indication of that is the launch of negotiations on a convention to counter the use of ICTs for criminal purposes.
Upon Russia's initiative the relevant ad hoc committee was established in 2021. The negotiations are ongoing.
They are difficult, tense, but we already have tangible results on paper.
The delegations agree that only states and their competent authorities should ensure protection of their citizens and societies in the global ICT domain.
There is little doubt that eventually, common sense will prevail among other governments, including the US, when it comes to the need for prevention of a conflict situation with an unpredictable outcome as a result of a transborder and anonymous computer attack.
All countries are vulnerable to threats in information space, whether they have a Silicon Valley or not.
That's the nature of data which, like water, will always find a weak spot in ICTs.
Our task is to prevent such leaks from turning into stormy streams, a hurricane beyond category 5.
* The writer is the director of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian Foreign Ministry and special representative of the president for international cooperation in information security