Global Initiative Launched To Fight Cyber Threats
The first global public-private initiative to fight cyber terrorism has been launched at the World Cyber Security Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
The International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Terrorism (IMPACT) is dedicated to bringing together governments, industry leaders and cyber security experts to prevent and respond to cyber threats
The aim of the non-profit body will be to improve the ability of member states to mitigate the risks from the “upper end of cyber threats”, including attacks on critical national infrastructures, said IMPACT chairman and co-founder Mohd Amin.
Recognizing that most security skills are in the private and academic sectors, IMPACT has set up an infrastructure to reflect this. For example, the International Advisory Board includes respected figures such as: Dr Vinton Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist of Google; Steve Chang, Founder and Chairman of Trend Micro; and John W Thompson, Chairman and CEO of Symantec.
The work of IMPACT will be based around the following four core areas:
- Global Response — using an emergency response centre to facilitate swift identification and sharing of available resources, including a database of international experts from the world’s leading ICT companies and academia who can be called into service at short notice.
- Policy, Regulatory Framework and International Cooperation — working in collaboration with partners such as Interpol, EU, ITU and other such agencies, to formulate new policies and harmonize national laws to tackle a variety of issues relating to cyber threats.
- Training and Skills Development — collaborating with leading global ICT companies to conduct highly specialized training and seminars that will provide governments with an insight into the latest trends, potential threats and emerging technologies related to cyber security.
- Security Certification, Research and Development — consulting with member governments and leading ICT companies in order to formulate a checklist of global best practices, with the intention of creating an international benchmark.