Our Shared Responsibility to Promoting Trust and Security in a Digital Age

By Alexander Niejelow

The transformative role the Internet has brought to every facet of our lives is unparalleled. However, the continued realization of the benefits our digital, interconnected world offers today, and the unimaginable potential it holds for future generations is in jeopardy due to the growing frequency, scale, and impact of cyberattacks.

Cyberattacks are causing ever-greater harm to people and civilian infrastructures around the world. The most damaging attacks have destroyed businesses, halted economies, and shut down hospitals. More recently, cyberattacks have taken local government services offline and threatened power grids and election infrastructure.

While governments and the private sector have invested heavily to shore up our systems to identify, protect against and mitigate the harm caused by cyberattacks, it is increasingly clear that we will collectively fail if there is not a paradigm shift in how we secure the digital ecosystem.

That’s why we have come together with Microsoft and the Hewlett Foundation to stand-up the CyberPeace Institute, an independent NGO that will set a new milestone in collective, global efforts towards de-escalating conflicts and promoting trust and stability in cyberspace.

The CyberPeace Institute’s operating objectives are centered around three core functions:

1. Assistance: Coordinating recovery efforts for the most vulnerable victims of cyberattacks and helping vulnerable communities and organizations become more resilient to attacks
2. Accountability: Facilitating the collective analysis, research, and investigation of cyberattacks, including by assessing their harm, and bringing greater transparency to the problem so everyone has better information to inform action
3. Advancement: Promoting positive and responsible behavior in cyberspace, by reinforcing and advancing alignment and adherence to international laws and rules

We are redefining the rules for cybersecurity to focus on protecting the entire digital ecosystem and a global population of users, rather than discrete parts of the system. We’re doing this through:

• The Cyber Readiness Institute and Global Cyber Alliance where we provide guidance and cybersecurity toolkits for SMBs, who make up 58% of cyberattack targets
• We led the creation of the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative, a public-private coalition committed to fostering cybersecurity talent

Simply put – trust is the essential ingredient that underpins our ability to interact and thrive in the digital age. We are proud to stand with our co-founders and partners to take action.