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25 Focus in Continuity: A Framework for Malaysia's Foreign
Policy in a Post-Pandemic World - A Monograph
Geopolitics and Cyber Engagements interpreted to reach thresholds of force,
complicating paradigms for appropriate
Technological maturity sets the tone responses. Leaked personal information of
for international engagements, where rules government and military o cials may also
and norms are at a juncture of develop- present risks for identity theft, doxing,
ment. From international platforms, such fraud or targeted influence campaigns.
as the United Nations Group of
Governmental Experts (UN GGE) to UN As cyber becomes ubiquitous, cyber
Open-Ended Working Group (UN OEWG), operations may exploit di erent centres of
mini-laterals like the QUAD and safety gravity. State-sponsored disinformation
standards determined on industrial campaigns can impact on public
platforms, the international community is sentiment, which could result in paralysis
determining means and ways to build a for decision-making or colour perceptions
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safer cyberspace. of an incident. Influence over public
sentiment may not be safeguarded by
However, the connection between existing legislation and upholding values,
technology and geopolitics could cleave such as freedom of speech and opinion,
technological development along the lines may impact on a government’s ability to
of values which can di er in areas, such as balance between national security and
governance, transparency or data human rights.
management. Governments may prefer
greater controls over data flows or stricter Constructing the appropriate response
governance on private companies, with is a diplomatic, strategic and security
policies such as data localisation challenge. Countries such as Estonia,
requirements or back-end access for the France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK
purpose of national security. For use scale and e ect to determine if a
developing nations, data governance cyberattack is comparable to kinetic
policies may decide partnerships, allies attacks, which would activate di erent
and participation in supply chains as responses. The US Executive Order 13757
privacy and transparency policies build allow for the imposition of sanctions on
confidence and trust between parties. individuals and entities determined to be
responsible for tampering, altering or
Managing an opaque and asymmetrical causing the misappropriation of
cyber environment means dealing with the information with the purpose or e ect of
challenge of threats or cyberattacks below interfering with or undermining election
the thresholds of force. Threats and cyber processes or institutions. Such responses
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operations may also not take familiar are part and parcel of maintaining a
forms addressed by states, especially for nation’s strategic environment and
interpretations in violation of sovereignty. autonomy in cyber though they
For instance, security firms such as Insikt correspond with a nation’s capability to
Group and FireEye have reported cyber investigate such operations and
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activities in Southeast Asia where the international mechanisms.
broad strategic objective is information
gathering in the South China Sea or the
Belt and Road Initiative. Rampant
information gathering may not be