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What can tech do to further global digital security?
A few weeks ago I attended another fantastic conference organised by the Ditchley Foundation. This time the location was beautiful Ottawa (my first time in Canada) and the attendee list was as impressive as ever. Where else do startup founders like me meet with Senators, CEO’s of huge enterprises, and hard-working policy folk to have such an open, respectful, and constructive dialogue on burning topics in society? At this one, we attempted to tackle ‘digital security’ with a focus on what the private sector can do. Picking some of (my favourite) raisins from that cake, I here cover musings on cybersecurity, mis-/disinformation, and the connections between the tech and policy communities.
Cybersecurity in times of heightened geopolitical tensions
There is no doubt that cyber attacks against private, as well as political, interests are growing. The cost of cybercrime is estimated at $7Bn today, and growing. 2021 saw well publicised and damaging ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS, in 2022 Australian health insurer MediBank admitted that a hacker had gotten access to private and personal data of up to 4 million customers. Not to mention when attacks are directed at government institutions such as during the US presidential election of 2020, or attacks on Ukrainian institutions in the early days of the war.
Despite these high profile attacks, is it time to start to consider cyberattacks simply a cost of doing business? After all, a lorry full of goods could be stolen off the road and insurance will usually cover the cost. For most businesses, the cost of a cyberattacks is in the hundreds to low thousands of dollars, so is it just a question of beefing up your corporate insurance and get on with it?
Well, not quite. Even in the case of stolen lorries, a company would still have to make every effort to ensure the safety of the vehicle; not leave it unlocked, park it in bright locations, keep a lock on the doors etc. Yet many companies, especially smaller businesses, leave their virtual doors unlocked. Here, the conference participants agreed that clear advice and perhaps a pre-vetted list of technologies would be helpful for companies that may not be tech savvy enough to build their own defences. There was even discussion around what was the…
