Valentin Weber

A Lack of Action in UN Cyber Discussions Is Partly the Fault of the West In July, the UN’s Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on cybersecurity successfully concluded five years of negotiations by agreeing on the Global Mechanism, a permanent body that will address issues of i...

My latest @dgap.org memo was published today.

Incation in #UN cyber discussions is primarily to blame on Russian behavior that obstructs progress, but it is also partly due to a #Western tendency to make broad statements in #plenary sessions. dgap.org/en/node/42456

The chair of the #UN #OEWG on cybersec circulated the final report for delegations to decide on today. Chances for consensus are better, but he might have made too little to accommodate concerns regarding the thin provisions on international law. This could derail the process in its final hours.

Yesterday night the chair of the #OEWG on international #cybersecurity circulated a revised draft of the final #report. The report has shrunk from 59 to 30 pages, increasing the chances of adoption. There are improvements but, the language potentially leading to a #treaty needs to be weakened.

It is the final week of UN #OEWG discussions on int #cybersecurity. Points of disagreement remain on new norms vs implementing existing ones and the shape of the future mechanism, which put a final consensus report in peril. It will require a great portion of diplomatic acumen to overcome them.

Chinas Privatunternehmen unter „Xiconomics“ Während chinesische Tech-Konzerne betonen, unabhängig zu agieren, hat der Parteistaat Mechanismen wie Parteizellen, „Golden Shares“ oder extralegale Druckmittel etabliert, die eine solche Unabhängigke...

„Der weitreichende Einfluss der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas auf 🇨🇳 Unternehmen ist in 🇩🇪 weitgehend unbekannt“, so Associate Fellow @kavocabo.bsky.social. Im Memo erläutert er, wie Parteizellen und Golden Shares die Wirtschaft kontrollieren & was 🇪🇺 tun sollte.

China's next-level AI could overtake US: new report Scientists in China are racing to build next-level "artificial general intelligence" that is infused with Chinese Communist Party values.

“Social governance is a euphemism for social control. Achieving social control is a central theme of #China 's AGI pursuit. The closer 🇨🇳 gets to reaching AGI, the higher are its chances of preserving regime security”, our #cyber expert @weberv.bsky.social told @newsweek.com.

YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V. Securing Connected Vehicles: European Perspectives on ICT Risks in the Automotive Sector

You can now re-watch the full discussion that was opened by welcoming remarks of our Otto-Wolff director Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff on our YouTube channel! 📺👇/2

Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇫🇷 & 🇬🇧, our expert @weberv.bsky.social discussed 🇪🇺perspectives on ICT Risks in the automotive sector. /1

Next Tuesday we will discuss the #cybersecurity of #connected vehicles with reps from #Germany, #UK and #France.

Join us at @dgap.org or online for a timely discussion.

More info at:
dgap.org/en/events/se...

Register at: events@dgap.org

Join us on 20 May in Berlin for an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇬🇧 & 🇫🇷, @weberv.bsky.social will discuss how cooperation can contribute to shaping a broader 🇪🇺 strategy.

All details & registration:
buff.ly/bXo4Ucz

China’s DeepSeek AI is revolutionising repression, argues @weberv.bsky.social: making it smarter, cheaper, and more scalable. The CCP’s latest #genAI tool automates #surveillance and decision-making, posing a global threat to democracy:

Wie Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich abschneidet Deutschland ist bei der Absicherung seiner Systeme für das Quantenzeitalter ein internationaler Vorreiter - zumindest auf dem Papier. Die Analyse der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik zeig...

🇩🇪 ist bei der Absicherung seiner Systeme für das Quantenzeitalter ein internationaler Vorreiter - zumindest auf dem Papier. Der @tspbackground.bsky.social Cybersicherheit fasst exklusiv die Ergebnisse einer neuen Analyse unserer Expert*innen @weberv.bsky.social & Maria Pericàs zusammen. /1

Tagesspiegel Background Cybersecurity coverage (in German)
background.tagesspiegel.de/it-und-cyber...

Quantum Technologies: Ranking Germany’s Ambition and International Reputation This policy brief juxtaposes Germany’s national quantum strategy with ten other published national quantum strategies to examine how Germany’s ambitions in quantum technologies compare to the ambition...

My article w Maria Pericàs is out. It shows that Germany is among the most ambitious & desired bilateral partners in developing quantum tech. We recommend the new Digital Ministry to establish a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative for European companies to propel innovation.
dgap.org/en/research/...

I'm very much looking forward to joining next week's @hooverinstitution.bsky.social event on "Digital Authoritarianism and Strategies to Promote a Democratic Digital Future" with Beth Kerley, Charles Mok, Christopher Walker and Larry Diamond. Online registration: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V. Germany’s New Coalition Government

Missed our DGAP Morning Briefing on Germany’s new coalition? Watch the full recording now: expert insights on foreign policy, migration, defense, climate & tech from Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Victoria Rietig, @aylinmatle.bsky.social, Tim Bosch & Valentin Weber. youtu.be/VlWh_VyKlAg?...

Looking forward to analyzing the technology aspects of the freshly published German coalition treaty with my colleagues tomorrow morning. Sign-up link is in the comments

For more context see my recent paper with Chung-Kuan Chen: shop.freiheit.org#!/Publikatio...

It was a real pleasure to speak about #China as a risen cyber power at the @virtualroutes.bsky.social colloquium w Zoë van Doren yesterday. Thanks to thought-provoking comments from @euben.bsky.social and great chairing by Lena Riecke & @partomirzaei.bsky.social.

Join us for the next session of the Colloquium series next week! 👇

⏰ April 2, 16:00-17:00 CET
💡 @weberv.bsky.social, Zoë van Doren & @euben.bsky.social
💭 China’s Expanding Cyber Playbook: Espionage, Fear, and Influence in East Asia

Read more & sign up: virtual-routes.org/event/chinas...

Why DeepSeek Is So Dangerous When news broke in late January 2025 that the Chinese startup DeepSeek had released a new frontier artificial-intelligence (AI) model, it rattled world markets. The open-source model can perform on pa...

“DeepSeek has massive potential to enhance 🇨🇳’s already pervasive surveillance state & it will bring the CCP closer than ever to its goal of possessing an automated, autonomous & scientific tool for repressing its people”, writes #tech expert @weberv.bsky.social in @jodemocracy.bsky.social.

Huawei’s EU bribery scheme exposed: tens of thousands of euros allegedly paid to MEPs Lobbyists for Huawei are accused of having funneled tens of thousands of euros to members of the European Parliament who supported a letter in favour of the Chinese tech giant, according to a leaked d...

Important follow-up to our reporting about corruption allegations against Huawei lobbyists dropped last night.

Investigators believe that at least one senior Chinese executive knew about the illicit money flows. Did the company cover up the corrupt acts? #HuaweiGate

www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

Taiwan’s Offensive Cyber Capabilities and Ramifications for a Taiwan-China Conflict Taiwan has had an active and capable offensive cyber force for more than a decade. Taiwanese leadership should continue to emphasize and grow its cyber capabilities to counter China's escalating gray…

Last week China accused Taiwan of cyber ops. CN does not provide any real evidence and does not mention its own disruptive and destructive cyber activities against TW. For more background on the role of cyber in a potential conflict read my @cfr.org blogpost from 2022. www.cfr.org/blog/taiwans...

Why DeepSeek Is So Dangerous | Journal of Democracy The Chinese Communist Party’s newest AI advance is making repression smarter, cheaper, and more deadly. Even worse, they aim to export it to the world.

🚨My piece for the @jodemocracy.bsky.social was published today. #DeepSeek makes surveillance tech smarter&cheaper.This'll allow the CCP to stay in power longer, and propel Chinese #AIsurveillance exports across the world—to the detriment of global freedom.
www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

What Trump 2.0 Might Mean for Russian Cybercrime Closer relations between Washington and Moscow could change the stakes for hackers given leeway by the Kremlin

Cybercriminals have long been an immensely useful foreign policy tool for the 🇷🇺 state. “They create revenue and cause economic disruption in the West,” our #cyber expert @weberv.bsky.social told @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats Recent incidents indicate US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cybersecurity threat, marking a radical departure: ‘Putin is on the inside now’

Does Russia represent a threat to the US? For years, it has been understood that the answer is absolutely yes. Please read our story on how the Trump administration is abandoning that assessment and retreating in a dangerous fight www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

China’s homegrown tech boosts global #surveillance, social controls www.rfa.org/english/chin...

#Syria is no longer part of the #Russian like-minded group in #UN cybersecurity discussions. It may be temporary, but at least for now, this strengthens the #French -led action-oriented proposal for a future UN body on cyber issues. The current OEWG concludes its work this year.

*The US…leaves out Russia in its remarks.

The US focuses on China and Iran in its remarks and largely leaves out Russia and Iran. Curiously the US invokes Trump and China on the other hand Xi Jinping to underline their arguments.