Experts discuss cyberpolitics, cybersecurity in Istanbul

İSTANBUL- Anadolu Agency

The third Bosphorus International Conference on Cyberpolitics, Cybersecurity and International Relations kicked off on June 28 in Istanbul.

The four-day conference, organized annually by the Cyberpolitik Journal, has hosted various cyber security experts and academics from different countries to discuss the latest trends and innovations.

"We are moving through something totally different than previous stages," Bilal Sambur said in the opening speech, arguing that humanity was in the midst of a "cyber revolution."

Sambur, who co-chairs Cyberpolitik, said the cyber revolution would bring many developments, including artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.

Though humans are currently the fundamental actors and creators of cyber space, robots will make their debut soon, he claimed.

He highlighted that cyber technology and its impacts were not solely issues of governments or computer engineers, but also of those who think about the future of humankind.

Murat Tümay, a law professor at Istanbul’s Medeniyet University, said that cyber space has been gradually dominating social life.

"Following the land, sea, air and space, cyber space is the fifth domain," said Tümay.

While cyber space brought opportunities as well as threats, he asserted that the positive outweighed the negative and that people could not give up being online.

"Cyber security is a team sport. We need to fight the dark side all together," Tumay said, urging all stakeholders, including governments, individuals and organizations, to act collectively.

Conference chair Nezir Akyeşilmen said all countries were at risk of cyber attack, stressing that cyber space was "anarchic in nature".

"No one can control cyber space, [not] even the U.S.," said Akyeşilmen, pointing out that the U.S. was the most attacked country in the world.

He added that a globally binding international agreement has yet to be reached.

Although governments have been trying to ensure the security of cyber space, Akyeşilmen said that it lacked any boundaries.