Cybersecurity: Is Technology Moving Faster Than Policy?
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SDA Report Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? January 31, 2011 Sofitel Europe, Brussels SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA 1 A Security & Defence Agenda Report Rapporteur: David Koczij Photos: Philippe Molitor Date of publication: February 2011 SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA Bibliothèque Solvay, Parc Léopold, 137 rue Belliard, B-1040, Brussels, Belgium 2 SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? CONTENTS At a glance—Speakers and moderator 2 Introduction 3 What challenges need to be overcome for a secure cyberspace? 3 Some issues and accomplishments for the European Union 5 Future developments for improved cybersecurity 7 Conclusion 8 List of participants 9 About Microsoft 11 About the SDA 12 The views expressed in this report by speakers are personal opinions and not necessarily the views of the organi- sation they represent, nor of the Security & Defence Agenda, its members or partners. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted, providing that full attribution is made to the Security & Defence Agenda and to the source(s) in question, and provided that any such reproduction, whether in full or in part, is not sold unless incorporated in other works. SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA 1 Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? Policymakers’ dinner Monday 31 January 2011 Sofitel Brussels Europe Cyberattacks in Europe and across the globe are at an all-time high and showing no signs of abating. Remote hijacking of computers for malicious purposes constitute an “electronic epidemic”. Faced with such rapid technological upheaval, Euro- pean policymakers seem slow to react. As EU member states rush to create the necessary national agencies, is it time for a European cybersecurity authority? What technical capabilities would such a body need, and who should provide them? Un- der which jurisdiction should cybercriminals be prosecuted? Is a stronger private-public cooperation framework needed to support such a system? Can the need to provide a safe cyber environment be balanced with privacy for the individual? Could investment in public education for “good hygiene” practices offer a low cost answer to the threat of viral infection? Speakers Mario Campolargo Craig Mundie Director, Emerging Technologies Chief Research and Strategy Officer and Infrastructures Microsoft European Commission Directorate General for Information Society & Media Jamie Shea Moderator Deputy Assistant Secretary General NATO Emerging Security Giles Merritt Challenges Division Director Security & Defence Agenda Policymakers’ dinners offer specialists in a defined policy area an opportunity to discuss issues with key officials of EU, NATO and diplomatic representations, and leading figures from NGOs, business and industry. The dinner format lends itself to free- flowing debate and an open exchange of views. 2 SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? Introduction “Cyberspace is another episode of the human saga of With the continuing increase in the number, scope and coming to terms with anarchic space, in the same his- severity of cyberattacks around the globe, it seems that torical vein as sea, air and space.” the EU, NATO and their partners are lagging behind in crafting effective policies to meet the demands required by ever-evolving threats emerging from cyberspace. The and Media. While the European Union provides a lot of participants at the Security and Defence Agenda policy- funding to the research and development of new infor- makers’ dinner on 31 January 2011, entitled mation and communication technologies (ICT) in order “Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than pol- to address existing and emerging problems, “security icy?”, agreed on the need for a common typology of cy- cannot rely solely on technology. In fact, policy must, berthreats and security policy responses, to be drafted in and will, play a crucial part in this area.” Referring to the collaboration with public and private actors. Digital Agenda for Europe launched by Commissioner Neelie Kroes last year, he added that “developing trust Over the past decade, began Craig Mundie, Chief Re- and security in the online environment is a priority for search and Strategy Officer at Microsoft, there has been the EU’s digital agenda.” a shift towards ever-increasing connectivity of networks around the globe. As the software technology on which “Cyberspace is another episode of the human saga of these systems run evolved in a secure and benign operat- coming to terms with anarchic space, in the same histori- ing environment, the systems have lagged behind from a cal vein as sea, air and space,” offered Jamie Shea, Dep- security perspective. uty Assistant Secretary General, NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division. Important details aside, he contin- “This remarkable internet connectivity,” he explained, ued, “the basic point is that we are all together in this “which has brought so many benefits, has also brought a world for the duration. What the EU, NATO and their set of risks from those who choose to use these tools to partner organisations need is an intellectual revolution exploit system weaknesses. While we who develop these and to find the strength to make the decision to relegate technologies are greatly improving the way we operate, more intellectual resources to questions of cybersecu- the community of ‘bad guys’ has become very efficient as rity.” well.” What challenges need to be overcome for a secure cy- “There is a growing awareness that cyberthreats can be berspace? detrimental to business, competitiveness and economic growth,” offered Mario Campolargo, Director for Emerg- As technology permeates society, security and trust in ing Technologies and Infrastructures at the European information and communication systems becomes a sig- Commission’s Directorate General of Information Society nificant factor in their development, participants heard. 3 Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? Following his work on Microsoft’s Trustworthy Comput- The problems emanating from cyberspace go beyond ing Initiative, Mundie noted that there are four elements state actions, Shea continued, stating that “cyber has al- to maintaining users’ trust in computing systems: secu- lowed the private individual, organised crime, terrorist rity, privacy, reliability, and interoperability. Although groups, social misfits and hacktivists to get involved with the high-technology industry has worked diligently over areas that were previously state-controlled.” the past decade to create trustworthy systems based on these four criteria, the challenges in these areas remain, In fact, said Mundie, cyberattacks have evolved from he concluded. ‘malicious mischief’ committed by certain individuals seeking notoriety to The most potent emerging challenge attacks of a criminal “No matter where things like the Stuxnet program ema- in cybersecurity has to do with the nature – people seek- nated from, it should be a wake-up call that strictly soft- changing uses and capabilities of cy- ing economic and ware-based attacks on systems can now wreak real and bertechnology, Mundie explained. ideological gains substantial physical damage.” “Intelligence and defence services of rather then notoriety. many countries now realise that This has had the ef- these technologies are critical to fect of reducing the their mission on the intelligence-gathering side as well as visibility of such attacks while escalating the seriousness a serious threat on the operations side.” It is the respon- of their consequences. sibility of national and international agencies to engage themselves with the technology and policy surrounding The increasing severity of cyberthreats is closely linked to cyber in order to tackle the duality of the issue. the increase in connectivity that the world is witnessing through, for example, cloud computing, continued Speaking from a military strategist’s perspective, Shea Mundie. As it currently stands, mission-critical systems asked the participants to consider the fact that, while in can by and large continue to function if temporarily sev- the past cyber was used primarily for espionage and in- ered from the network. If, however, the current trends of telligence gathering, it has increasingly been used for connectivity and interoperability continue – connecting denial of access and even destructive attacks. “We must large-scale enterprises to super-scale activities – govern- consider how much cyber changes our thinking about ment and industry will have to carefully weigh potential conflicts,” he stated. “Will states now resort to the softer efficiencies and economic returns against the fact that power of cyber interventions where before military ac- consolidated system architecture is exponentially more tion was the norm?” vulnerable to cyberattacks than stand-alone or small, protected systems. “No matter where things like the Stuxnet program ema- nated from, it should be a wake-up call that strictly soft- “I think that the challenges, even as we seek to get a han- ware-based attacks on systems can now wreak real and dle on them in the traditional environment, are going to substantial physical damage,” agreed Mundie. accelerate quite dramatically, largely because the sys- 4 SECURITY & DEFENCE AGENDA Cybersecurity: Is technology moving faster than policy? tems comprising the mobile internet are in some ways comes from within their own security and organisational where we were a decade ago in terms of