From: Financial Times

By James Blitz, Defence and Diplomatic Editor

Britain is seeking to reach bilateral agreements on cyber security with states such as China and Russia in a bid to contain crises caused by cyberespionage and destructive activity on the internet.

Under the agreements, governments would commit to share information with each other in the event of a crisis affecting the internet.

As William Hague, foreign secretary, prepares to attend an international conference on cyberspace in Hungary tomorrow, British diplomats say the UK is looking to sign agreements on “crisis communications” with other states to help  build international confidence regarding the internet.

“The critical issue here is that we all have some common interest because none of us wants a cyber meltdown.” said a British official. “At present, the UK  has no information sharing agreement with the Chinese [internet] crisis response  team. However, we could imagine a relationship where there is an obligation to assist in the event of a crisis.”

The US and UK have for years been trying to get the international community to adopt measures that govern the way in which nations operate in cyberspace.  The fear is that without such norms, the number and sophistication of cyber  attacks on national infrastructures will continue to rise.

Any agreement on crisis response with China and Russia would not be easy – China and Russia are widely seen as leading sponsors of cyberespionage against western governments and companies.

Last year, the  Pentagon warned for the first time that massive cyberespionage by China and  Russia poses “significant and growing threats” to US economic power and national security.

Although the UK has never directly named China and Russia in this way, ministers and senior security officials have privately indicated their frustration at the way both states threaten UK government and corporate  \secrets.

Much effort has been spent trying to agree a sweeping international code that  restricts cyberespionage or warfare. But western diplomats say drafting such a code has proved difficult because Russia and China want a legally binding  document that gives states the right to control information.

However, British officials say there is a much greater chance of bilateral arrangements, with states agreeing to share information in the event of a crisis in the way they do in the area of arms control.

International discussion on the need for crisis response agreements has stepped up considerably since the  UK held the last cyberspace summit in London, according to UK officials,  with the issue raised repeatedly at meetings of the Organisation for Security  and Co-operation in Europe and at the Association of South-east Asian Nations.

Work on establishing such bilateral agreements is set to intensify next year, according to independent experts.

“These are new initiatives and not long in the cooking,” said Nigel Inkster of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But this makes a lot of  sense. There are potential areas for misunderstandings on the internet and there is a growing recognition of the need for some rapid consultation where the requirement arises.

“If the UK confronts a problem it needs some mechanism to go to the Chinese  and ask them about it. If it is egregious espionage, that won’t contain the problem, but an agreement puts down a marker.”