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CYBERSECURITY – CONFIDENCE AND SECURITY

 © John Oeth/Alamy

Building confidence and security in the use of ICT

Current and emerging threats to cybersecurity, and possible solutions, were the focus of discussions at the Third Facilitation Meeting for Action Line C5 — Building confidence and security in the use of ICT — that resulted from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). A number of stakeholders presented their initiatives in this area, followed by discussions on identifying targets and ways to measure performance. A total of 125 participants from governments, industry, international organizations, academia and civil society attended the meeting in Geneva on 22–23 May 2008.

It was opened by ITU Deputy Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, who said that promoting security and confidence in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a top priority for ITU. He commented that while it is every person’s fundamental right to communicate, the misuse of ICT for criminal purposes is increasing.

In open discussions, the meeting agreed that there needs to be a road map for cybersecurity which contains extensive legal frameworks. Cross-border cooperation is required in order to obtain the data needed to create such a plan. The Internet is not comparable to manufacturing industries, which remain in fixed national environments. This raises issues such as differing legal regimes and the need for secure, international authentication procedures for web users. However, a legal framework is not enough in itself; education is essential too.

The message today is: collaboration. ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda is a useful framework for assessing progress and searching for solutions. But a way to measure progress must be defined. Composite indicators, both qualitative and/or quantitative, are necessary to construct a common standard. The idea is to build the indicators together with the WSIS community.

Proposals and recommendations

There was a general view that the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda was the appropriate framework for multi-stakeholder cooperation on cybersecurity, and that ITU should take the lead in creating synergy among the work of various agencies. A number of specific proposals were made for further action:


 ITU/J.M. Ferré

“Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated. Cybercriminals are becoming more organized, extending their operations abroad and obtaining illegal gains through money laundering. It is vital that we become better connected and more organized than the criminals we are fighting,” said Mr Zhao. All three ITU Sectors have been taking action, he explained, but ITU cannot solve these problems alone. Cyberthreats need a coordinated global response.

Ensuring trust through technical solutions

  • Reputation services
  • Trusted identification
  • Cryptography through quantum technology
  • Public key infrastructure (Recommendation ITU–T X.509)
  • Multi-model biometrics
  • Guaranteed packet trace-back
  • Mutual authentication.

Establishing frameworks

  • Strong and technology-neutral criminal law
  • Organizational framework for operational activities and response
  • Management framework for organizing national cybersecurity
  • Technical framework, based on globally accepted security standards and private-sector codes of conduct
  • Capacity building for response to cyberthreats
  • Industry framework for multilateral partnerships.

Raising awareness

  • Education of end users
  • Creation of a road map based on the experience of mature industries
  • Open research by the private, public and academic sectors
  • Capacity-building activities.

Promoting cooperation

  • Collaboration between the private and public sectors
  • Collaboration between law enforcement, private industry and the financial sphere
  • Finding a balance between the cultural, economic, political and developmental differences among countries in order to enable international cooperation.

ITU as a central organization for

  • Facilitating the flow of information through an organized network
  • Enabling information hosting, sharing and cooperation among all stakeholders, through such means as the Cybersecurity Gateway
  • Measuring performance, especially in the public, non-profit, academic and commercial environment
  • Creating a road map of what each country should be doing to make cyberspace secure
  • Dissemination and implementation of recommendations and reports from the three ITU Sectors.

The meeting concluded by noting that, when it comes to cybersecurity, “the seriousness of the danger today is quite clear and we should be well prepared. It is a global problem which calls for a global solution and all the parties should work hand-in-hand.”

 

 

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