Major push to combat cyber terrorism

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

The fourth annual national conference on cyber security kicked off yesterday with a large number of local delegates from both the public and private sectors as well as many foreign delegates amassing at the event in order to discuss solutions to the issue of cyber terrorism, which is rampant across the world today.

The Cyber Security Week 2011 will focus on current global trends and through the many sessions that will be held over the course of the event, highlight threats and solutions to strengthen cyber security.

Delivering the keynote address at the inauguration of the event, ICTA Chairman Reshan Dewapura in his opening remarks drew upon the recent problem experienced by Blackberry creator Research in Motion. Although it was clarified that the breach was caused by a security leak in the RIM infrastructure and not a deliberate attack, Dewapura pointed out that the outage highlighted the threat that cyber warriors could pose to a nation’s communication system.

“This is the current scenario in the technologically dependent world that we live in. Cyber space is not so different from the traditional spaces of social interaction. Threats in cyber space are very real. The number of cyber attacks in the world is constantly growing and so are the cost and effects of cyber crime,” he stated.

“Cyber crime and attacks affects the very base of social and economic wellbeing of the general public in this world. Today, in the light of all these realities and this new threat to the security of not only citizens but also to the functioning of the national economies, combating these cyber crimes becomes particularly important.”

He pointed out that there is no country in this age of cyber terrorism can remain indifferent or unresponsive or even rely on nature and geography as done before to protect themselves against these malicious acts because in addition to bringing people closer, the internet has eliminated the distances and differences between people and also in the meantime placed in the hands of criminals a very powerful means of organised acts of crime.

Dewapura said that it is only through joint actions of governments and citizens as a whole, as a cohesive force that can create a shield against cyber crime.

“Citizens and organisations must be encouraged to report crimes more often as they can’t be resolved if they are not reported in the first place and in this aspect it is important to create awareness in government departments, the private sector and the general public in order to understand cyber crimes that needs reporting. Once reported the legal infrastructure can come into play to deal with them,” he said.

Dewapura concluded his address by recommending five practical proposals that can be undertaken in order to have safer cyber space in Sri Lanka.

The first is that we recognise that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that national networks are secure and have not been penetrated. To achieve this, he stressed on the fact that the nations cyber activities need to be coordinated both on an institutional level and district and provincial levels and this has to be led by the apex agency for cyber security in Sri Lanka CERT.

The second recommendation called for centralised bodies, law enforcement bodies and the legislature to focus on areas in which it has particular influence, such as protecting critical infrastructure and coordinating legal structure, as well as regulating and working with business consumer protection privacy.

The third is that the national security policy should be extended to include the cyber security agenda that covers the length and breadth of the country in order to take the message to the people that cyber security is compatible with individual rights and privacy and freedom of speech.

The fourth recommendation called for the national security and defence policy to play a bigger role in the cyber security in Sri Lanka. “This policy must also ensure that military operations and similar missions are protected against cyber attacks. Cyber defence should be made an active capability of the country as a whole. It is crucial that Sri Lanka takes advantage of its powerful neighbours to coordinate activities between these countries,” Dewapura explained.

The final recommendation stated that PPPs should be established, as it is essential for governments to cooperate with the private sector because a majority of the infrastructure is in private hands. All developed nations have identified this and work closely with the private sector and equally important is that the private sector in return should reciprocate equally.