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France has also promoted the use of third-party certification principles, under
the authority of the National Cybersecurity Agency, to ensure that the market provides
the highest level of security. This process is being piloted at the Agency by the
National Certification Centre. France has also promoted the establishment of such
certificates at the European Union level.
In order to strengthen efforts to counter the proliferation of malicious tools and
techniques, France has also supported the inclusion of intrusion software in the list of
dual-use goods of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional
Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.
Norm (j): States should encourage responsible reporting of ICT vulnerabilities
and share associated information on available remedies to such vulnerabilities
to limit and possibly eliminate potential threats to ICTs and ICT-dependent
infrastructure.
As stated above, France has taken various steps to allow the responsible
disclosure of computer vulnerabilities and has developed cooperation at the technical
level through the National Cybersecurity Agency, which regularly exchanges
information on vulnerabilities and available solutions with its counterparts and partners.
Norm (k): States should not conduct or knowingly support activity to harm the
information systems of the authorized emergency response teams (sometimes
known as computer emergency response teams or cybersecurity incident
response teams) of another State. A State should not use authorized emergency
response teams to engage in malicious international activity.
Act No. 88-19 of 5 January 1988 on computer fraud, known as the Godfrain Act,
was the first French law to punish computer crime and hacking. It criminalizes the
act of fraudulently accessing or remaining in all or part of an automated data
processing system.
The French governance model, under which offensive capabilities are
distinguished from defensive capabilities and missions, ensures that that principle is
respected. The missions of the government computer emergency response team
include the coordination and investigation of responses to cyberincidents, not only
for the Government but also for operators of critical infrastructure and essential
services as defined in law, by helping those operators to establish the necessary level
of protection, detect vulnerabilities in networks and systems, organize the response
to incidents, with the help of partners if necessary, and participate in a trusted network
of computer security incident response teams.
Application of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations,
to cyberspace: another principle recognized by the Group of
Governmental Experts
France believes that the emergence of a collective cybersecurity framework can
be based only on compliance with the rules of international law. It therefore does not
believe that a new legally binding international instrument dedicated to the challenges
of cybersecurity needs to be established at this stage. Existing international law
applies to cyberspace, as it does to other spheres, and must be respected.
As the Group of Governmental Experts concluded in its 2013 report, the
principles and rules of international law apply to the behaviour of States in
cyberspace. Even given the specific characteristics of cyberspace, such as anonymity
and the role of private actors, international law provides the means necessary to
responsibly control the behaviour of States in that environment.
20-08285
37/84
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