Cybersecurity and E-commerce in Free Trade Agreements

Abstract

We are facing a digital age characterized by constant flows of goods and services, financial assets, people, information and communication. As a consequence, the world economy is increasingly connected, and digitalization has spread to such an extent that today’s world economy is a digital one, which has come to break down commercial barriers that the traditional economy and politics were unable to. Security and trade policy concerns are nothing new. However, given the electronic nature of commercial transactions (e-commerce), this has taken on a new and urgent importance. Cyberspace is a space of flows, a virtual space that grows every day with the transactions that take place through the use of ICT. Governments of many countries have begun to develop cybersecurity strategies, while trying to promote the benefits of a hyperconnected and cyber-enabled world. This article analyzes how e-commerce policies promote the protection of cyberspace. Specifically regarding e-commerce, care must be taken so that the cybersecurity strategy does not become an obstacle or constraint to such electronic transactions. The protection of cyberspace must be carried out with a multi-stakeholder approach. These issues are also of public interest since threats to cyberspace can affect entire countries and societies.