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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
Photo: Patricia Leiva/OAS
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The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, inaugurated today the twelfth annual meeting of the
Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), to discuss and adopt
a declaration on "Strengthening Cyber Security in the Americas."
The
Secretary General stressed the power of rapid technological advances to
provide new and valuable services to citizens, but noted that it also
offers criminals new ways to attack. In this sense, he warned that
"Cybercrime incidents can adopt a multitude of forms and lead to the
gravest consequences," also mentioning their connection with a variety
of illegal activities, from arms trafficking and drugs to terrorism
itself.
The head of the OAS warned that "our ability to respond
to these threats still suffers from weaknesses," and stated that it is
necessary to work to raise public awareness, promote policy making, and
further training for staff directly responsible for combating it.
Regarding
the role of the OAS and the CICTE, Secretary General Insulza
highlighted the "development of a modern view of cooperation between the
public and private sectors, with the latter owning and operating most
of the information structure on which our countries depend."
In
addition, the Secretary General put forth the objectives of CICTE for
next year: "Support those Member States that have not yet set up their
National Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs), improving
the technical capacities of the personnel at existing national CSIRTs,
Promoting the development of national frameworks or strategies for cyber
security, and increasing and consolidating the existing regional and
international cooperation, together with private sector cooperation, on
topics related to cyber security and, most particularly, to the
protection of critical information infrastructure."
On behalf of
Grenada, the outgoing Chairman of the CICTE, the country’s Permanent
Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Gillian Bristol, emphasized the
need for international collaboration and cooperation to effectively
combat "cyber terrorism".
"The question is no longer whether our
system will get attacked, but rather when," said Ambassador Bristol. In
this perspective, she said "we must be prepared" and noted that,
"responding to cyber threats does not require one government, agency or
department, but cooperation and communication between entities
domestically and internationally, and both in the public and private
sectors, and at home, and in schools, and in centers of recreation."
The
representative of Grenada also said that "We must therefore unite in
our assessment of risk and vulnerability in order to determine the
potential impact of an attack on critical infrastructure, and ensure
that such infrastructure is properly protected." and remarked that, "The
theme of the 12th regular session encompasses priorities, action and
collaboration necessary to face this terrorist threat at the national
and hemispheric levels."
The inaugural ceremony of the Twelfth
Regular Session of CICTE featured a special presentation from Jamie
Saunders, Director of International Cyber Policy at the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. The British diplomat focused
his speech on highlighting the need for collaboration between public and
private sectors in order to combat cyber terrorism, and explained the
details of the tactics developed in his country.
Saunders placed
special emphasis on noting that the point at which his government began
their fight to combat the terrorist threat on the Internet was, "a clear
recognition of the enormous benefits in economic and social terms that
we are all seeing from the rapid development of a globally networked
world." He maintained that unfortunately sometimes, “the many meetings
of this kind, by quite understandably focusing on threats and risks,
tend to create a negative view of cyberspace."
The CICTE was
created in 1999 with the goal of promoting national, regional, and
international cooperation in order to prevent, combat, and eradicate
terrorism in the Americas. The twelfth annual meeting convened today in
Washington, DC high-level government representatives and featured
presentations from experts such as Cheri F. McGuire, Vice President of
Government Affairs and Global Cyber Security Policy of Symantec
Corporation; and Christopher Painter, Coordinator of Cyber Issues for
the US State Department.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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