 Modelled
after the well-known Center for Disease Control & Prevention
(CDC) in Atlanta, US, the Global Response Centre (GRC) is
designed to be the foremost cyber-threat resource centre in
the world. Working with leading partners from academia,
governments and industry (current partners include Symantec
Corporation, Kaspersky Labs, F-Secure, Trend Micro, Microsoft,
the SANS Institute and many other stakeholders), the GRC will
provide the global community with a real-time aggregated early
warning system. GRC’s ‘Network Early Warning System’ (NEWS) will
help member countries identify cyber-threats early on and
provide critical guidance on what measures to take.The GRC
will provide ITU Member States with access to specialised tools
and systems, including the recently-developed ‘Electronically
Secure Collaborative Application Platform for Experts’ (ESCAPE).
ESCAPE is a unique electronic tool that enables authorised
cyber-experts across different countries to pool resources and
collaborate with each other remotely, yet within a secure
and trusted environment. By pooling resources and expertise from
many different countries at short notice, ESCAPE will enable
individual nations and the global community to respond
immediately to cyber-threats, especially during crisis
situations. This system features a comprehensive and growing
database of key resources around the world (including IT
experts, ‘empowered persons’ such as government regulatory
officials and other trusted parties, e.g. CERTs); who can be
called on to assist during times of crisis. The system acts as a
virtual platform for this community of IT and security experts.
ESCAPE will enable the GRC to act as a ‘one-stop’ coordination
and response centre for countries during emergencies, enabling
swift identification and the sharing of available resources
across borders. ITU will provide crucial expertise, both in its
research on cybersecurity as well as its experience with
developing online collaborative platforms.
The centre-piece of IMPACT’s newly-constructed Global HQ, the
GRC is equipped with a crisis room, state-of-the-art IT and
communications equipment, a fully-functional always-on
(24x7x365) Security Operations Centre, fully-redundant secure
data centre, facilities for shift workers, on-site broadcasting
centre, VIP viewing gallery etc. The GRC will play a pivotal
role in realising ITU GCA’s objective of putting technical
measures in place to combat new and evolving cyber-threats.
The massive seven acre-site provides IMPACT and ITU (and its
Members) with considerable flexibility and opportunity for
future expansion; for instance, by adding highly-secured
disaster recovery facilities.
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