POLYHEDRAL PRESENT
RE:COORDINATORIAL
Coordinatorial Polyhedron [pol-ee-hee-druh n] noun, plural polyhedrons, polyhedra 1. In elementary geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons) is a solid in three dimensions with flat faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A polyhedron is a 3-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number of dimensions. Polyhedral [pol-ee-hee-druh l] adjective 1. of, pertaining to, or having the shape of a polyhedron. This is the second issue of Polyhedral – the official magazine of ASK 2014: Agora on Security Kyiv. Our magazine is called Polyhedral, as just like a polyhedron, our magazine is 3-dimensional. The first issue concentrated on the first dimension – the past. This issue will take a closer look at the present. And we believe that by now you have already figured out that the third issue will study the future and explore various potential directions for the time ahead. Every facet of the polyhedron represents a different aspect of the security issues we are facing, a different set of problems and opportunities, that all combine into a structure greater and more complex than any of its parts. The Media Team of ASK 2014 wishes you a pleasant, engaging and challenging reading experience. If you have any questions – just ASK anyone. Your Media Coordinators
kaarle olav varkki nataliia kalyn
RE:TEAM
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First issue
By Media team
RE:ASK
Secure Talks with Jakob By Valentina Semenikhina Jakob Etzel, the moderator of Cyber Security Dimension did a workshop about personal cyber safety. It was an interactive lecture that gave the audience an introduction on what are the most dangerous threats to our computers and mobile phones and how to prevent getting hacked. So, what made him get interested in this field, why is cyber security important and what are the ways to re:think it? Jakob, what is your background in IT? I’m studying technical mathematics. In my studies I also have lectures in programming and specifically in internet security, and I’ve seen how easy it is actually to hack, how poorly prepared people are. I’ve done hacking myself and I was quite impressed by how much harm one can cause in a very easy way. What is cyber security for you? While thinking about cyber security there are three spheres we have to think about. The first is national cyber security. The second is that companies need to be safe. For example, for a company like Amazon it is really important that people think they are safe when they use the Amazon website so they will do everything to protect it. And the third one is that it is crucial that people themselves try to make sure that they are safe. I always like to compare it with car traffic. The best car manufacturer can produce the safest car. A na-
tion can do everything to have good laws but if the people do not use the seat belt, if they drive too fast you will have an accident, and this Barcamp gave me the chance to work on this third and probably most difficult dimension. Why do you think some people do not take cyber security seriously? The reasons can be very different and we need to realise, that it is also money that counts and security has a value. Not everybody wants or can spend their money to be secure enough and that’s the reality. It is something we have to deal with, but I’d like to stress that everybody who is not secure on their computer, creates a problem for the others who are. For example, if you think about e-mail spam – if you can collect one million e-mail addresses that are not secure, you can use them to send out spam, and somebody who is actually protecting their e-mail address so that it doesn’t get hacked, is still receiving so much spam because others do not protect their accounts. That’s why it’s important that we tackle this issue and it’s a threat to all of us. In your lecture you said as a joke that the best way to avoid being a victim of the cyber space is to just not use computers, and in fact, typewriters have never been sold in such numbers as during the last ten years. Knowing this, what is the best way to re:think cyber security? It’s a cost-benefit ratio. If you are dealing with state secrets then the cost is so high that you will actually use a typewriter, so it depends
on the risk level. However, with the typewriter you lose the comfort that the modern computer gives us. In my opinion, one of the most important things about re:thinking the security is to find ways of anticipating things that will happen in the future that we do not know about yet. Cyber is probably the dimension of security that is developing the fastest and we therefore need to develop systems that can deal with threats that are not known yet. For instance, with the help of artificial intelligence we can make predictions about what will be the threats and automatically make an incident response. What is your attitude towards the monetization of the security? It’s definitely good. Monetization of security ensures that we have strong development, research and that people actually care about it. I have an example of something new: insurances against cyber threats. A company can buy such insurances and in the case of there being a cyber-attack against someone, and having losses, the insurance will pay the person. This started in the USA and is now also available in Europe. It’s a very new thing and it only happens because we have monetized security. On the other side, we need to make sure that we understand it’s not only about money; it’s also about knowledge, creativity, good people, morality and values. There might be countries with no money but good values and this will be a better preventive measure against people becoming bad hackers. It might also be the case that they have more creativi-
RE:ASK ty in finding defence measures. It might also be that education has much higher standards in their society and this makes people be more secure. It might also be that they are more successful in changing the citizens’ behaviour to act more responsibly and more securely. Can you imagine the world with 100% cyber security? Do we need this level of safety? The answer is very clear: there will never be 100% cyber security as there will never be 100% security in a classical sense. The question is how much security we need to feel objectively safe. We
can survive if something happens. If you lived on a volcano island you would know that you would never be 100% secure and that there might be a volcano eruption. But you could calculate the probability of the volcano having an eruption and you could multiply it with the impact it would have, and then you would know the risk. You will never be able to defend yourself against 100% of the risks there are, but if you can
be safe 80% of the time, you have probably already won. Are you satisfied with the final output of your Barcamp presentation? Except for one person everybody in the audience gave a pledge to change something in their own security environment and that, I think, is very good feedback of the workshop as I believe that through understanding we can change our behaviour.
RE:LEARNING
Personal Cyber Safety Vocab By Valentina Semenikhina Two-factor authentication - identification of users by means of the combination of two different components. These components may be something that the user knows, something that the user possesses or something that is inseparable from the user. If one of the components is missing or is used incorrectly, a person’s identity cannot be established beyond doubt.
with a password manager.
USB Condom is meant to protect against what’s known as “juice jacking,” where a seemingly innocuous charging station is used to steal data or harm a device. The protective layer fits on top of a USB plug and cuts off access to the pins that allow it to transmit and receive data. Only the pins that allow the plug to receive power are left open, so that a device Password manager is a software application that can charge without any possibility of malware being helps a user store and organize passwords. If the bad passed between the device and its power source. guys scooped up your password, you’re in trouble. And if you used that same password at other sites, One-Time Password (OTP) Authentication prodyou’re really in trouble. You need to use a differ- ucts generate highly secure one-time passwords enent strong password on every site, and you should suring that only properly authenticated users are auchange each one often. Unless you have an excep- thorized access to critical applications and data. tional memory, the only practical way to do that is
RE:THINK
RE:SPONSIBILITY
Open your eyes – The lethargy of the European business regulation By Monica Maurelli
Together with delays, prevaricaIt is time for Europe to deal with tions and long silences by MEPs, the intricate system of interna- the trialogues strengthen the lack tional corruption, clearly shown of transparency when it comes to by the annual loss of 120 billion verifying conflicts of interests in euro a year in financial transac- the public domain. Moreover, the unclear situation shaped by differtions in EU Member States. ent obligations at different levels The Brussels “lobbycracy”, which of seniority allows the EU civil
influences the three political institutions at the heart of the EU’s legislative process, is facilitated by the absence of mandatory register for lobbyists and the increasing phenomenon of trialogue, a more rapid lawmaking process based on informal meetings of representatives of the European commission, the European parliament and the EU council, where the majority of EU laws are drafted without public records.
servants to escape their responsibilities and duties; the failure of the EU legislation is especially crucial in public procurement or in the lobbyist industry, as long as it is affected by the revolving door concept, which consists of individuals moving back and forth between public and private sectors by trading their experience and connections with EU institutions. Encouraging information-sharing among national governments and civil society organizations is needed to tackle a systemic problem; by washing its hands of this dilemma, the EU fails to recognise a substantial issue linked to the reliability of its political authority. Indeed, corruption not only hurts
the European economy but also undermines citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions, thus reinforcing the raise of extremist parties. That was also one of the points raised this morning during the World Café by Phil Jones, Chief of Staff at NATO Allied Com-
mand Transformation and Army Officer at Ministry of Defence of UK, who led a discussion on how corruption represents a threat to states’ security. As a prompt response to the perils of graft, anti-corruption law enforcement has been settled in many European countries. That happened also in Ukraine in 2011, when the Parliament passed a new law “On the foundations of the state policy in the field of anti-corruption,” developed in accordance with the recommendations of and under the supervision of the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). The new legislative
RE:SPONSIBILITY framework, which set the basis for the National Anti-Corruption Program (NACP), received positive evaluations: Ukrainian Government demonstrated commitment to international standards in the field of anti-corruption. However, now, two years after the an-
not work, but that they work in unintended ways, often in combination with informal norms and institutions. As Phil Jones underlined, “efficient legislations – even anti-corruption ones – already exist; what we still lack is a proper implementation of laws”.
“Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective.” Pratibha Patil ti-corruption bill was passed and the NACP devised, it remains unclear whether there are any tangible changes in the Ukrainian fight against corruption. The NACP is poorly financed, and the prosecution of corruption remains largely confined to the street level of bureaucracy. Then an obvious question is to be asked: can corruption be tackled through an implementation of regulations? Paradoxically, the answer is no. Corruption exists not because the state is “weak”, but because it is unaccountably strong, while there are few mechanisms for citizen control of the administration. Indeed, the most heavily corrupted domains of public administration are the most heavily regulated ones, where street-level bureaucrats exert considerable discretion over allowing, restricting or imposing sanctions on economic activities. Although graft is often linked to the weakness or failure of official state structures, the problem lies not in the fact that the law and formal rules do
At the moment, one of the most effective actions to fight corruption and promote transparency on laws implementation in Europe is the digital campaign Restarting the Future, promoted by Libera, associations, names and numbers against the mafias, namely the most prominent Italian NGO which works to fight corruption and organised crime, within the European network FLARE - Freedom Legality And
Rights in Europe. The campaign is based on a public internet platform which shows a digital list of all the Members of the European Parliament who have joined the Parliamentary Intergroup against corruption and accomplish its specific guidelines. Out of the 382 European election candidates who support the Restarting the future campaign, 62 have been elected and are now Members of the new Parliament. They come from 14 Member States and their names and aims can be found here: http://www.restartingthefuture.eu/candidates/. Thanks to that platform, European citizens have now the possibility to make more responsible decisions during EP elections – by checking which candidates actually fulfil their commitments by promoting transparency – and always bear in mind that the fight against corruption starts with us and our individual daily decisions.
RE:HELP
RE:HELP
Write a Letter for Democracy By Simon Forsgren On September 21st 2014 it has been thirteen years since the Eritrean dictator Isaias Afewerki imprisoned the Swedish journalist Dawit Isaak, as well as several other Eritrean journalists. None of them had an official arrest, trial, or explanation. One of these journalists is Seyoum Tsehaye, an Eritrean journalist who made a name for himself as a war photographer during the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, while working for freedom and democracy for the Eritrean people. In 1991 Eritrea was free, 300 000 people died, a third lived in exile, democracy had been achieved, former guerilla leader Isaias Afewerki took power. Now, 23 years later, his presidency has yet to be internationally recognized as having had the consent of the people. Seyoum questioned this, and wondered what had happened to the dream of freedom and democracy. He and the other imprisoned journalists
had criticized Afewerki’s actions, and called them unconstitutional. Since then, countless people opposing Afewerki have been illegally detained, no one with an official trial. For seven years Eritrea has been ranked last in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, falling behind North Korea. There are those who try to make a change and to put pressure on the Eritrean state and on Afewerki, to release these prisoners of conscience. One of these people is Vanessa Berhe, the niece of Seyoum Tsehaye, and the founder of the organization OneDaySeyoum, an organization that I am part of. In a video explaining the concept of the organization Vanessa stated that “I started OneDaySeyoum because, being born in Sweden, one of the most democratic countries in the world, has not only taught me about the privileges of a democracy, but also the obligations. Our main goal with OneDaySeyoum is simple – for Seyoum to be free. I believe in you, citizens of the democratic societies”. M a n y international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty and Journalists Without Borders, have joined us in Vanessa Berhe’s reaching out to engage youth all over Europe to put pressure on
the Eritrean regime, to free her uncle and all the other Eritrean prisoners of conscience. This is where you come into the picture. We are gathering signatures, and hope to get a thousand signatures before the end of the year. However, a much more creative and powerful campaign is being prepared at the moment. A date will be set soon, on which people from all over the world will send a letter to their respective Eritrean embassy and demand the release of Seyoum Tsehaye, Dawit Isaak, and all journalists imprisoned in Eritrea. If you are a person not affiliated with the movement, this might not interest you so much since it might appear as quite a narrow campaign in terms of its goal, but it implies an inspiring message. The message OneDaySeyoum seeks to deliver is that “We have to prove to Seyoum that the democratic values he fought for are powerful enough to be his escape”. If you join us in trying to free these people who did nothing but voice their opinion you will prove that democracy and freedom are causes worth fighting for, and that every person can make a difference.
RE:CALCULATING
The Stronghold of By Caroline Widmer
other things, the European Union stands for connecting people Everyday our news reports about in order to help each other. A the tragedy of refugees who are good example of it is the fact that looking for security and stability. during the euro crisis Greece reThe European Union has a refugee ceived support from the EU by policy, the goal of which is to help two packages amounting to over these people. However, the policy 237 billion Euros. is controversial and therefore the question can be asked: is the EU However, “stronghold� symbotackling this problem in the right lises a protection against an inway? vader. In this way, it separates the people inside from the rest. On Monday, a boat with 40 refu- Comparing the term stronghold gees on it sank near Istanbul, in to the European refugee policy the Bosphorus channel. The pas- shows how difficult it is for the sengers were mostly Afghans who refugees to be able to seek asylum were trying to enter the Europe- in the EU. There are not enough an Union through Romania. This accommodation places offered by route, as well as the one traversing countries, as we can see in Gerthrough the centre of the Mediter- many, for example, where 76 000 ranean, is often used by refugees Syrians applied for 5 000 places, even though they know the dan- meaning that 71 000 people stood gers they will face. This shows how in front of closed borders. In reterrible the situation is for them in ality, nearly all members of the their own country, as they prefer EU are obliged to improve this to take flight into the European situation and provide more acUnion under the risk of dying, commodation places, as stated in instead of staying in their home the refugee convention, the most country. Nevertheless, it is really important document concerning hard for them to enter the strong- refugee safety. It defines a refugee hold of the European Union. as a person who does not stand under the protection of its home There is a contradiction inside country due to their race, religion the definition of the stronghold or political opinion. The main of the European Union. Among goal of the convention is to ensure that a refugee is not deported once he has sought asylum. To the day, 147 states have signed the convention, with several European Members, such as Germany or Austria, such as Germany or Austria. The responsibility for the abidance of the convention lies in the hands of the first European country a refu-
RE:CALCULATING
the European Union gee enters. Different national governments have implemented this to a different extent, which leads to an unequal allocation of refugees over the European Union. By July 2014, 66 000 refugees had sought asylum in Italy, because it is geographically one of the easiest countries to reach by refugees. Italy claims that the other Members of the EU do not support it enough, as in the Italian opinion, they are not willing to receive refugees, supporting the idea of the European stronghold. Nevertheless, it is important to see this
number compared to the inhabitants of a country. Sweden has the highest number of asylum seekers – 1 355 refugees per one million citizens. Countries with clearly less refugees are Malta, with 475 per million and Germany, with 460 per million. The number of refugees in countries such as Estonia is shocking, as they only have 15 asylum seekers per 1 million citizens. This number makes it obvious that the EU needs to re:think its refugee policy in order to prevent tragedies such as the sinking boat on the Bosphorus.
RE:OPINION
What do you think is the most important issue regarding security at the moment? By Justine Leitarte
“For me the most important issue is peace – it is connected with the policies of every country. If we manage to sustain peace we will definitely have less problems all around the globe. One way to achieve this is to make sure that Europe cooperates with the USA. Through this cooperation it would be possible to solve diplomatic issues that we have at the moment with Russia. Also, if we look at the past nuclear disasters like the ones in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we have to realise they had a massive effect on the world. I think we need to learn from these mistakes and make sure that nuclear tragedies like these do not happen again. “ - Dawid Helsner
“The most important current issue for me is the development of a security strategy for Ukraine. At the moment it is not efficient to stick to the previous concept of non-alignment that was introduced in 2010 by ex-president Viktor Yanukovych’s government. So the biggest work is to decide – which direction to take. Of course, we can take the direction that we are currently heading towards – the direction of the European Union and NATO. But the question is whether we will manage to save the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We can strive to be a part of the EU but I am not sure that all of Ukraine together, as a nation, can successfully join the EU. It is also important to realise that we are not in a position to afford to make mistakes. A failed attempt to juggle between the East and the West proved that we have to make a decision and then be dedicated to it.” - Karina Gordiienko
RE:OPINION
“For me, personally, the most important security issue is related to the governmental decision-making, because policies made on the national level can have an impact on every individual personally. So, connections between the government decision-makers and national security are inevitable.” - Luka Dzagania
“Military security is an issue that I can connect my personal experience the most with, because as a Ukrainian, seeing that another country can just freely invade my country’s territory was very disturbing. Furthermore, with the Ebola epidemic we can see how health security has been significantly undermined. There is no guarantee that the cure for this disease will be found in the near future and even if it will, I doubt that it will be affordable for the people that are living in the quarantined countries.” - Oleksandr Ustymenko
“For me, the main security issue is the global warming because it is escalating rapidly and will have an effect on every one of us. I fear that environmental issues will turn into problems like lack of food and conflicts regarding resources between countries.” - Lisa Lacroix
Thank you!
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© Media team of ASKyiv2014