Over the years, we"ve seen escalations in cyber attacks which have led to world leaders, such as Barack Obama, calling for an end to international hacking while also declaring that "frankly we have more capacity than any other country, both offensively and defensively". However, as we"ve seen, that hasn"t stopped agencies such as the NSA from stockpiling zero-day exploits which were eventually outed and published online.
After the release and proliferation of the WannaCrypt ransomware, based on an NSA-developed exploit, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith laid partial blame at the feet of governments for allowing such stockpiling to occur. Towards the start of 2017, Smith had called for a "Digital Geneva Convention" to act as a catalyst for change against cyber crimes, in general.
We are all digital citizens. Join us in the fight to #StopCyberwarfare and demand digital peace: https://t.co/tGs5FX8iY3
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) September 30, 2018
Now, in a bid to raise awareness, Microsoft has launched the Digital Peace Now initiative to raise awareness and encourage people to put an end to cyber warfare as well as stopping attacks from spreading into the physical world. The petition calls upon world leaders to help effect change in this respect and to stop the weaponization of the digital world. Those who add their details to the petition can also opt-in to email updates from Microsoft"s Digital Peace initiative at the bottom of the page.
Of course, while petitions can demonstrate solidarity amongst like-minded individuals and groups around the world, it does not by any means legally compel governments to carry out the actions called for therein. However, if you are interested in throwing your support behind the initiative, you can access and fill in the petition at the link below.
Source: Digital Peace (Microsoft)