Cyber threats outpacing abilities of governments, companies, says WEF

As cases of data breach and online frauds fox the authorities in India and abroad, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that cybersecurity threats are outpacing the abilities of the governments and companies to overpower them unless all stakeholders cooperate

As cases of data breach and online frauds fox the authorities in India and abroad, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that cybersecurity threats are outpacing the abilities of the governments and companies to overpower them unless all stakeholders cooperate. In a new report to be discussed in detail at its annual meeting in Swiss ski resort town of Davos by over 3,000 world leaders including from India, the Geneva-based WEF said working collaboratively in the cybersecurity space is difficult and there is no “simple policy solution or silver bullet here”. The increasingly networked, digitised and connected world is vulnerable to cyber threats that can only be addressed by the combined capabilities of the public and private sector, said the new report prepared by the WEF in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, Cyber Resilience: Playbook for Public-Private Collaboration, seeks to facilitate capacity-building, policies and processes necessary to support collaboration, safeguard cyberspace and strengthen cyber-resilience. It precedes the launch of a new Global Centre for Cybersecurity at the Davos summit from January 22-26, 2018. “We need to recognise cybersecurity as a public good and move beyond the polarising rhetoric of the current security debate. Only through collective action can we hope to meet the global challenge of cybersecurity,” said Daniel Dobrygowski, Project Lead for Cyber Resilience at the WEF.

It further said cyber threats are complex, dynamic and increasingly personal as technology saturates economy and society and addressing these threats requires dialogue across industries and competencies, and on subjects from the technical to the ethical. “Currently, dialogue between leaders in the public and private sectors is often off-target and at cross purposes. Policy implementation also varies by national context: every country has its own unique capabilities, vulnerabilities and priorities,” the WEF said. “There is no simple, elegant policy solution or silver bullet here. The iterative progress and feedback loop used in software development should be a model for improving policy,” said Walter Bohmayr, Global Leader of Cybersecurity at BCG.

The report calls all stakeholders to move past absolute and rigid positions towards more nuanced discussions aimed at solving key challenges. “Cyber-resilience will continue to be a top-of-mind topic for decision-makers, and the Forum intends to continue leading future efforts in this space through its new Global Centre for Cybersecurity, which will be presented at the annual meeting in Davos,” the WEF said.

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