Co-proposers/co-organizers:
- Albania IGF
- Dutch IGF
- Dutch Youth IGF
- Estonia IGF
- Georgia IGF
- German IGF
- Norway IGF
- SEEDIG
- Switzerland IGF
- UK-IGF
- Ukrainian IGF
- EuroDIG the regional forum will be the facilitator of this session, by bringing together independent NRIs from the region to discuss and exchange. We consider the preparatory process as an integral part of the discussion during the session.
Session title
European national perspectives on securing critical information infrastructure
(To agree on cybersecurity as topic for discussion is the result of a consultation process as it was agreed during the
NRI Assembly taking place at EuroDIG in Tallinn in June 2017.)
Session format and timingThe session will be 90 minutes long in total. It will be a co-moderated discussion among national security experts and the audience. Speakers will be invited to provide their perspective on the national approach and co-moderators will constantly engage with the audience (onsite and online); not only via an open mic but also by using interactive tools. The session will be concluded by the key messages of the discussion, to be delivered by rapporteurs.
Content of the sessionCybersecurity in all of its facets has consistently topped the agendas of the NRIs in Europe for the past two years. This was the outcome of a review of hot topics among NRIs in Europe. (See the
compilation of hot topics discussed in Europe).
During the session, the co-organizers will provide an overview of national subtopics as they have been discussed within Europe, find out where the commonalities lie and where are the differences, and suggest the ways to bridge divergences in approaches.
We will discuss the following questions:
- Defining what are the critical assets to be secured at the national level, and what are the methodologies to prevent them?
- What are the local challenges?
- How to build trust between all stakeholders?
- How can/do the National Internet Governance Initiatives facilitate and support collaborative, multistakeholder solutions to address these local challenges?
Speakers
- Marina Kaljurand, Chair of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) and former Foreign Minister of Estonia
- Nata Goderdzishvili, Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Data Exchange Agency, senior consultant in e-government and cyber security, Georgia IGF
- Nina Leemhuis Jansen, Dutch Ministry of Justice
- Vanessa Berning, Wilma Westenberg (Netherlands Youth IGF)
- Isabel Skierka, Digital Society Institute at ESMT Berlin and Co-Chair IGF Germany [remote]
- David Rüfenacht, MELANI, Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance, Switzerland
- Ørnulf Storm, Norwegian Communications Authority
- Su Sonia Herring, Civil Society, SEEDIG Executive Committee, Turkey
- Nick Wenban-Smith, UK IGF
Relevance of the issue
It has become conventional wisdom that cybersecurity is a global problem that requires a global response. In reality, however, there are differences in approaches to the protection of critical infrastructure at the local and regional levels, especially with regard to the role of the government, the need for regulatory intervention, and the definition and scope of what constitutes critical infrastructure, to name but a few.
The
compilation of hot topics clearly shows the diversity of cybersecurity-related issues discussed within one region but Europe is not unified in terms of the issues, resources and possible solutions and we can find different UN regional Groups / WEOG and Non-WEOG (developing economies) in this region. However with more than 20 active and independent European Internet Governance Initiatives, we would like to showcase the existing substantive diversity on how to approach the issue of cybersecurity within the European region. Each NRI is of a multistakeholder nature and this will be reflected in the Org Team as well as in the session.
>>Find more information about different national perspectives further below under "Additional Background"
Onsite moderator(s)
Tatiana Tropina, EuroDIG cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert Cyber (SME)
Vladimir Radunovic, DiploFoundation
Online moderator
Michael Oghia, YOUthDIG cybersecurity Focal Point
Rapporteur
Nick Wenban-Smith, UK IGF
Link with the Sustainable Development Goals: (8), 9, 11
Connecting with intersessional groups: Best Practice Forum Cybersecurity Our aim is to add a national perspective to the expert discussion in the BPF and not to repeat or duplicate other sessions.
Reference document link
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
Thematic input from the Netherlands: we have a lot of discussion in the Netherlands, after years of 'ignoring' the serious threats, cyber security is top of mind now, but there is a risk of too much top-down approach and control. When cyber threats such as IOT botnets become manifest, the common reflex is to start initiatives to deal with the situation at hand. But as it turns out a generic, bottom-up approach towards threat mitigation is much more effective.
Continue reading...
Thematic input from Georgia: We are one of the few countries where cyber security exceeds ICT development. While in the beginning eGovernment and Information society were key enablers for strengthening state efforts in cyber domain, nowadays cyber security attracts high political and societal attention. Being in the 8th place in ITU Global Cyber Security Index implies that Georgia is recognized in the world as one of the most advanced countries in terms of cybersecurity. No less important, Georgia occupies the 2nd place in National Cyber Security Index in 2017.
Continue reading...
Thematic input from Germany: Cybersecurity has become a highly political issue in Germany. The public debate about defensive and offensive cybersecurity capabilities highlights tensions between different dimensions of cybersecurity: the security of information technology, critical infrastructure, and individual users on the one hand, and national security on the other. Two events have fuelled the rise of cybersecurity to the top of the political agenda and to the center of public debate in Germany: the Snowden revelations in 2013 and the cyber attack against the German parliament (Bundestag) in 2015. Today, the government’s expansion of offensive hacking capabilities is cause for growing public debate about the government’s role in cybersecurity.
Continue reading...Thematic input from Albania: Albania ranks among the countries where the development of telecommunications, internet access and computerization of society is progressing very quickly. Increasing the use of communication is an added value in the country's economic and social development, but at the same time it exposes it to the dangers of cybernetic nature with state and non-state actors. The last years Albanian Government has done several very important steps related Cybersecurity by:
Continue reading...
Thematic input from UK: Report from the UK IGF 2017
Thematic input from SEEDIG: One of the six sessions of SEEDIG 2017 annual meeting focused on cybersecurity challenges and opportunities in the region. The most prominent answers to the onsite survey asking, “What are cybersecurity priorities and what should they be?” were:
- Ignorance
- Identity theft
- Privacy
- Facebook
- Credit card frauds
- Governments
Other questions discussed included: Is cybersecurity on national agendas? Are there implementable action plans and multistakeholder processes? What is the level of regional cooperation (and why is it low)? Continue reading...
Thematic input from Norway: National and sectorial response centers: The Norwegian Computer Emergency Response Team (NorCERT) in the National Security Authority has the ability to prevent, detect and analyze data related to serious incidents on the Internet. NorCERT works closely with other countries and similar services in international organizations. To improve society’s ability to detect, alert and handle serious ICT incidents, in addition to NorCERT’s overall role, multiple sectoral response teams have recently been established in Norway. This is in conjunction with the strategies aligned in the Cyber Security Strategy for Norway (2012) Continue reading...
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