Cybersecurity Gateway

Mr Houlin Zhao

ITU Deputy Secretary-General & Chair of WSIS Task Force

"ITU’s commitment to building trust and security in ICTs remains as strong as ever. WSIS implementation, and notably Action Line C5, continue to be priorities in the ongoing work of the ITU.

As technologies rapidly evolve and security concerns constantly change, the multistakeholder approach of the ITU has enabled it to keep pace with emerging issues.

The Global Cybersecurity Agenda has promoted further cooperation and allowed for an even wider reach, enabling a truly international approach to cybersecurity challenges."

Cybersecurity global issues

Today, the Internet has become an integral part of modern societies, propelling the end user to the forefront of communication. All kinds of information is available, in all different formats and of varying topics and point of views.

The difficulty with this ever-growing multitude of resources is effectively sorting through the vast amount of information on hand. How much of that information is factual, or even genuine?

The real concern is not just with the dissemination of inaccurate or misleading information, but above all with malicious content. Fraud, theft and forgery exist online just as they do offline. If users are to benefit from full advantages of the Internet, then confidence in the infrastructure is primary.

Cyber threats such as malware and attacks are becoming extremely sophisticated. This is especially true with the increased presence of organized criminal groups online.

The Internet has ceased to be the domain of the technically competent. User-friendly software and interfaces have enabled all types of users, including children and novices, to interact remotely.

This new territory contains a gold-mine of valuable information and potential victims. The complicated infrastructure of the Internet also makes it more difficult to track down criminals. But criminals are not the only threats to the Internet. The vulnerabilities of ICTs are a lure to terrorism and espionage. Cyber warfare and espionage have also made their appearance and can pose serious threats to critical information infrastructure.

Even though national measures are being taken, cyber threats remain an international problem. Loopholes in legal frameworks are being exploited by perpetrators and harmonization between existing laws is far from satisfactory. Coupled with the absence of appropriate organizational structures, there is a genuine problem in responding to cyber threats.

This is without counting on the constant evolution and sophistication of such threats and the vulnerabilities in software, and more recently hardware, applications. With the phenomenal growth in mobile ICTs and new trends such as cloud computing and virtualization, it is increasingly likely that cyber threats will spread to new levels.

ITU: a unique global Forum to discuss Cybersecurity

ITU recognizes that information and technology security are critical priorities for the international community. Cybersecurity generally is in everyone’s best interest and this can only be achieved through a collaborative effort.

Cyber threat issues are global and therefore the solutions must be global too. It is vital that all countries arrive at a common understanding regarding cybersecurity, namely providing protection against unauthorized access, manipulation and destruction of critical resources.

The ITU believes the strategy for a solution must identify those existing national and regional initiatives, in order to work effectively with all relevant players and to identify priorities. With its 191 Member States and more than 700 Sector Members,

ITU is uniquely placed to propose a framework for international cooperation in cybersecurity. Its membership includes least developed countries, developing and emerging economies, as well as developed countries. ITU is therefore an excellent forum where actions and response to promote cybersecurity and tackle cybercrime can be discussed.

The ITU is made up of three Sectors: the Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), the Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and the Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D).

The Cybersecurity Gateway

The purpose of the Cybersecurity Gateway is to provide an easy-to-use information resource on national and international cybersecurity related initiatives worldwide.

Roadmap

The cyber security gateway aims to be a collaborative platform, providing and sharing information between partners in civil society, academic institutions, industry, private sector, NGOs, governmental and international organizations working in this area. All of these sectors are invited to provide information about their activities.

Overview

Cybersecurity Gateway

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