Cooperation for More Cyber-Security

Focus of this year’s session on cyber security titled The Essential Need to Cooperate: Multi-stakeholders, National and/or Regional Cooperation for Cyber-Security in the Western Balkans was on how to establish a cooperation between the state, corporate and civil sector in regulating and strengthening cyber-security on a national, regional and international level.

As the Internet is not owned by anyone, its decentralized nature and openness require the actors to join efforts and cooperate to make common rules on how the internet should function. As pointed out, regional cooperation in this field is the key, due to the fact that cyber-security knows no borders especially for the Western Balkan countries which are interconnected.

As the Internet is not owned by anyone, its decentralized nature and openness require the actors to join efforts and cooperate to make common rules on how the internet should function. As pointed out, regional cooperation in this field is the key, especially for the Western Balkan countries. Cyber space has no borders, threats are numerous, and that is why cooperation is important, not only as a means to respond to incidents and protect the infrastructure, but also to develop common standards and preventive measures. However, furthering the international cooperation in this field still creates opposite reactions of strong lobby groups.

Among other threats panelists discussed the heterogeneous nature of hacker groups, problem of technical language of the field and communication between agencies within the state. Private sector provides no clear picture of cyber-attacks because they have no obligation of reporting and also because they go at great lengths to protect their reputation. There are some examples of good practice like trusted private entities that share threat data anonymously, but they are scarce.

• Franz-Stefan Gady‚ Senior Fellow, East West Institute
• Joanna Świątkowska‚ Cyber Security Expert, Kosciuszko Institute
• Slobodan Marković, Advisor for ICT Policy and Internet Community Relations, Serbian National Internet Domain Registry (RNIDS)
• Vladimir Radunović‚ Coordinator, E-diplomacy Projects, Diplo Foundation (Moderator)