Cybersecurity talk-fest in Dallas

David Heath
Monday, 03 May 2010 22:33

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Bringing together leaders of governments, business and civil society from around the world, the first Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, hosted by the EastWest Institute begins in just a few hours.

Slowly, cybersecurity is being raised as a real issue; one that Governments must become both aware of and adept at discussing.

The EastWest Institute has taken a major leadership position in this field and is about to commence their first-ever Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit.

Setting the scene, the EastWest Institute's website describes the event: "Electronic attacks around the world have compromised confidential information, crippled official web sites and have exposed the vulnerability of financial data. They have heightened fears that criminals or terrorists could use cyberspace to paralyze communications infrastructure, international financial systems or critical government services.

"Despite the severity of these threats, the international community has not come to agreement on how best to deal with them. EWI's Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit will work to fill this gap, bringing together leaders from the public and private sectors to reframe cybersecurity concerns and to devise collective strategies to address them."

The breadth of speakers at the event, including Whitehouse cybersecurity co-ordinator Howard A. Schmidt, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T demonstrate how serious it is being taken.

In background, John Edwin Mroz, CEO and President of the EastWest Institute said, "In 2007, the EastWest Institute's Strategic Dialogue team from the United States led by General (ret.) James Jones and me, challenged senior Chinese and Russian leaders in discreet talks to break the deadlock in international cooperation in meeting cybersecurity challenges.

"Intense Track 2 discussions followed at high levels. All three governments confirmed the concerns each holds for the intentions and actions of the others. It also showed a deep-seated common concern over the growing capacity of non-state actors to wreak havoc upon global economic stability - as well as begin to pose serious security challenges. Each of the big three already had changed their estimates of cybersecurity - the U.S. raising it to the same level as nuclear security."