• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Why companies are forming cybersecurity alliances

cybersecurity

When it comes to cybersecurity and cyberattacks, most governments have spent much more time increasing their offensive capabilities than protecting companies and individuals. But the advent of cyber-physical systems and the internet of things, along with the increasing sophistication of bad actors, has made cyberattacks issues of human safety. And companies have largely been left to fend for themselves.

That’s why, over the last few years, tech

focused companies have begun entering into cybersecurity alliances with one another. Some of these groups (operational alliances) are mainly practical, sharing intelligence or technical data. Others (normative alliances) are explicitly aimed at changing the ways companies deal with cybersecurity vulnerabilities and renegotiating the social contract between states and their citizens.

The operational alliances are built around small groups of companies. Their exchanges of information about cyberattacks and threats try to raise the collective level of cybersecurity, shape overall security practices and speed the adoption of security technologies. The normative alliances make explicit calls for digital peace, government support for companies under attack, and cooperation to limit the use of private systems and networks against citizens.

Yet while virtually every company supports peace, it may not make sense for every company to join one of these alliances. And of course, not every company is so systemically important that it needs to take a position on the geopolitics of cybersecurity. Ultimately, it comes down to risk tolerance and capacity.

Nations continue to be the ultimate protectors of their citizens. But civil society and companies are also important as the drivers of human rights and economic prosperity. What’s needed now is cooperation on a larger scale, broader sets of allies working together to build trust and share responsibility, to protect the increasing numbers of citizens who rely on digital networks to survive and thrive.

(Daniel dobrygowski is the head of governance and policy  for the world economic forum’s center for cybersecurity)