Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

US fails to renegotiate arms control rule for hacking tools

Federal Times: The Obama administration has failed to renegotiate portions of an international arms control arrangement so that it's simpler to export tools related to hacking and surveillance software — technologies that can be exploited by bad actors, but are also used to secure computer networks.

The rare reconsideration of a rule agreed to in 2013 by 41 countries was derailed at the plenary's annual December meeting in Vienna, leaving it up to President-elect Donald Trump's administration whether the U.S. pushes for revisions again next year.

The U.S. had pushed for more precise language to control the spread of such hacking tools without the unintended negative consequences for national cybersecurity and research that industry groups and lawmakers have complained about for months. They argue that the current language, while well meaning, broadly sweeps up research tools and technologies used to create or otherwise support hacking and surveillance software.

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