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Posted on August 7th, 2012 in Web Threats by Simply Security | Be the first to comment | Tags: web threats

Both public- and private-sector administrators stand to benefit from increased collaboration on leading cybersecurity issues.

As cybercriminals threaten the interests of private corporations and government agencies with greater frequency and intensity, public and private sector leaders are coming to see Internet security as a shared burden.

The Pentagon has already completed a threat intelligence sharing program with defense contractors, and legislators are currently pushing a bill that would see this strategy expand to include a much broader swath of the private sector. To raise awareness for the need to collaborate across sectors, even at the state and local level, cybersecurity experts will gather this week for a unique panel discussion at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly).

The first in a series of discussions will take place on June 21 as Verizon's vice president of government affairs, Marcus Sachs, will set the scene for the modern cybersecurity landscape, addressing topics ranging from botnet construction to intellectual property theft. Citing the Government Accountability Office's recent finding that there has been a 680 percent increase in cybercrime reported by federal agencies since 2006, Sachs suggests the time has come to break down traditional barriers that have inhibited cross-sector collaboration.

"Cybersecurity is more important than ever, not only for the public sector, but the private sector," said Sachs. "Our ability to fend off increasingly sophisticated attacks can be improved by pooling our resources and intelligence to safeguard our national systems, critical infrastructure and our country's intellectual property. Without a collaborative approach that's both flexible and highly responsive, we will remain at risk."

Sachs will be joined on the panel by AT&T chief security officer Edward Amoroso as the duo discusses their companies' roles in threat prevention and resolution. One of the major points of contention in the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that is currently being debated in Congress is whether major telecommunication providers like Verizon and AT&T will have to comply with government mandates or be able to set their own industry standards for inclusion in the collaboration framework.

But as NYU-Poly hosts discussions of the finer details of next-generation Internet security strategies, the University of Maryland is ensuring that qualified experts will be available to staff the eventual programs.

In collaboration with leading defense contractor Northrop Grumman, the college will debut the nation's first cybersecurity honors program for undergraduate students this fall. The interdisciplinary program will be open to majors ranging from computer science and engineering to business administration and public policy with the intention of developing a new crop of versatile talent to man the front lines of each sector.

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