International Call for Coordinated Cybersecurity

Organizations in Asia, Europe and the United States have created cybersecurity principles to guide government agencies as they establish policies to protect data and networks. The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, DIGITALEUROPE and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) developed the guidelines to ensure that international collaboration, cooperation and trade will not be compromised as the result of stringent cybersecurity policies. Although information protection must be coordinated across national borders, the digital world's foundation of openness and collaboration must not be lost in a well-intentioned yet poorly constructed international patchwork of cyberdefenses, says Dean C. Garfield, president and chief executive officer, ITI. The principles call for transparency in development of all laws, regulations and other cybersecurity policies as well as the need for collaboration between the public and private sectors when developing such policies. They encourage the use of globally recognized standards for both cybersecurity tools and testing and certification.