Building a Safer World

The 3rd Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, held in New Delhi, engaged global think-tanks, academia, private and public sectors, and cyber security administrators in discussions to manage cybersecurity at the global level. Among the key participants were Kapil Sibal, minister, HRD and C&IT R Chandrasekhar, secretary, Dot; J Satyanarayana, secretary, DeitY; and Nandan Nilekani, chairman, UIDAI.

Kapil Sibal, HRD and C&IT minister, Govt of India, highlighted the need to have a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to identify the nature and intensity of crime and to follow cyber laws as pre ordained in the respective countries. With a population of 1.2 bn people and the growing penetration of internet, Sibal said that cybercrime will affect India more than any other country in the world. Other issues such as e-commerce, data privacy, and protection from cyberattacks are of national interest. Sibal also extended India's support to the global community in addressing cybersecurity challenges.

Cybersecurity-An Important Issue for Every Country

The plenary session on India's role in cybersecurity was moderated by EWI's Anurag Jain. J Satyanarayana, secretary, DeITY said, “It is necessary to create trust in cyberspace and have an assurance framework through conformity assistance.” Echoing a similar sentiment, R Chandrashekhar, secretary, telecom, Govt of India said, “I share the anguish, no legitimate site must be blocked. We must be circumspect when we censor.”

Subimal Bhattacharjee, country head, General Dynamics, and a noted cybersecurity expert highlighted the role of private sector in providing advanced technology to the government so that censorship can be targeted. Pradeep Gupta, CMD, CyberMedia highlighted the need to manage security right in the beginning when doing national level projects like UID. He said, “Do it right the first time, there is no luxury of doing it incrementally.”

In the other opening day panels, top officials and experts from both the private and public sectors agreed that the rapid pace of technological change has triggered a corresponding leap in vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals. It has also raised fears about government intrusion that could threaten privacy and individual freedoms. Michael Chertoff, chairman of the Chertoff Group and former US Secretary of Homeland Security pointed out how complicated many of these issues have become. “You cannot have privacy without security,” he said while acknowledging the legitimate fears that some governments will attempt to control internet content.

John Suffolk, the global cybersecurity officer of Huawei, argued that the benefits of new cyber technologies deserve more emphasis. “The more you frighten people, the less people will use technology that drives the economy forward,” he said. Christopher Painter, the coordinator for cyber issues at the US State Department added, “Security is not the end goal; security is the foundation.”

In his opening remarks, EastWest Institute president John Mroz said, “We are here for a purpose-to build trust and find solutions together.” He pointed out that the 2 previous annual summits in Dallas and London have led to the implementation of 52% of the 27 recommendations that came out of those consultations. “This is a process, not just a conference,” he added.

Call for Co-operation

As the participants began work in their breakthrough groups on specific issues such as protecting undersea cable infrastructure, cloud computing, priority international communications, and payload security, EWI vice-chairman Armen Sarkissian, former Prime Minister of Armenia, declared, “In a short period of time, this summit process has proven itself effective.”

On the second day of EastWest Institute's 3rd Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit in New Delhi, leading Indian and Chinese cyber experts declared their commitment to increased cooperation between their 2 countries, particularly between their Computer Emergency Readiness Teams (CERT).

“CERTs have to drive nations to international cooperation,” said Gulshan Rai, director general of CERT India. “India and China will be cooperating with each other to secure cyberspace.” Zhou Yonglin, director of the Internet Society of China added, “We had very good talks with Dr Rai on how to improve cooperation between China and India CERTs. We can help each other to stop the threats.” Both representatives also pledged greater cooperation with other nations.

As demonstrated by a poll of more than 300 participants from 22 countries who took part in the summit, it was firmly established that the need for such cooperation is greater than ever. Ninety-three percent of those surveyed believe that the cybersecurity risk is higher than a year ago.

Other results include: 47% believe that corporate boards grossly underestimate the cybersecurity problem and 19% believe that those boards are so confused that they don't know what to think; 63% believe that their governments are only in the early stage of understanding and committing themselves to international cooperation in cybersecurity; 45% believe their country can defend itself against cyber attacks; and 40% believe that their privacy is not protected online while 32% believe it is protected.

While acknowledging some progress in efforts to combat global cybercrime, former US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff assessed the current level of international cooperation on cybersecurity as 'fair to middle'. Pointing to major differences on such issues as intellectual property and data protection he added, “We haven't accomplished what we need to accomplish.”

Vartan Sarkissian, CEO of Knightsbridge Cybersystems, also stressed the need for international cooperation, but maintained that the process must begin at the local level. “The challenge is further complicated by the fact that companies are ignorant of their own vulnerabilities,” he said. “They don't know the specific protocols of their own systems.”

Erin Nealy Cox, executive managing director at Stroz Friedberg, concurred that private companies often are lacking basic information on the cybersecurity problems they face. “CEOs need more metrics in this area,” she said, arguing that without such information much of the spending on cybersecurity measures could prove ineffective. She pointed to a forthcoming EastWest Institute study that will seek to fill this void by providing clearer guidelines for measuring the problem. “EWI's work in this area will be very significant,” she added.

In his concluding keynote address, Deloitte's Indian-born chairman of the board Punit Renjen commended the EastWest Institute's decision to hold the summit in New Delhi. “India has a cyber vision that is grand and it is bold,” he said, pointing to the way the internet has lifted millions from poverty. But he also noted that most of the population still lacks connectivity, and cybercrime is already taking a heavy toll, with an estimated $6 bn in annual losses in India and $400 bn worldwide. “Right now it seems that the bad guys are winning,” he said.

“This is a great, great challenge; that's why these summits are so important,” Renjen continued. “EWI has certainly provided leadership by serving as a catalyst for collective transnational action.”

(The article was first published in Dataquest)