UK Signs Up To Cyber Resilience Initiative In Davos

The UK government has signed up to a global cyber security initiative at the Davos meet up, which will see it commit to a set of principles designed to shore up networks against attacks.

Foreign secretary William Hague signed the World Economic Forum’s Partnering for Cyber Resilience initiative today, joining over 70 companies and government organisations from 25 countries.

The project aims to raise awareness of security issues at the top level within organisations and to encourage them to instill “cyber hygiene”.

Cyber resilience

“Governments and the private sector have a shared interest in promoting a safe and secure digital environment and it is vital that we work together,” Hague said.

“This is key to building the global economy through the talent of individuals and of industry within an open market for ideas and innovation. The UK takes this issue very seriously, indeed. But we cannot do this alone.

“We must strive for a model for Internet governance in which governments, business and users of the Internet work together in a collective endeavour, establishing a balance of responsibility for the benefit of us all.”

The UK government has formed various global partnerships on cyber issues, including recent agreements with Australia and New Zealand to up efforts on cyber resilience. In November, the Coalition announced £2m funding for a Global Centre for Cyber Security Capacity Building, designed to support global collaboration on cyber issues.

A month earlier, the UK took part in  a massive simulated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, as part of the second-ever pan-European cyber exercise.

Pen was put to paper during the 43rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, better known as Davos after the municipality in Switzerland in which the meet is held, where there has been plenty of talk about cyber issues.

Today PwC claimed it was going to “shock global business leaders into action” at Davos, with a mocked up boardroom scenario session showing what might happen in the event of a serious cyber scenario.

“The alarming growth in cyber crime highlights the challenge that all global business leaders face,” said Ian Powell, PwC chairman.

“Although they might be aware of the threat they are not necessarily equipped to respond effectively, so it’s important to discuss the issues at a platform like Davos. After all, cyber is a global risk that knows no boundaries.”

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