The General Manager of the NCI Agency, Mr Koen Gijsbers, attended the Global Conference on CyberSpace (GCCS) 2015 that took place from 16 to 17 April in The Hague, the Netherlands. The conference brought together representatives from governments, private sector and civil society to promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, enhance cyber capacity building, and discuss norms for responsible behaviour in cyberspace.
In the margins of GCCS2015, Mr Gijsbers hosted a Business Executives Dinner Discussion on the NATO Industry Cyber Partnership (NICP), in cooperation with Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. Fifteen business leaders representing IT, financial, and critical infrastructure sectors attended the dinner, where they conferred on how private sector and NATO can work together to grapple with the most pressing cyber-challenges that we face.
In his opening remarks Mr Gijsbers underscored that as cyber-attacks continue to increase in frequency, magnitude, and sophistication, threatening the transatlantic prosperity, security, and stability, the most effective defences for public and private sector alike can only be achieved through enhanced cooperation and robust partnership.
Three themes dominated the event:
• Building the trust to work collaboratively in order to understand cyber risks, raise situational awareness, and improve cyber protection
• Facilitating actionable information sharing between NATO and Industry
• Advancing innovation by identifying the next cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, promoting small business participation, and enabling application of most innovative technologies
The discussion brought a sense of urgency for the need to advance the NICP programme, which was endorsed by NATO Heads of State and Government at the Wales Summit. It also demonstrated that cooperation with the private sector in addressing cyber threats and risks, is no longer a question of why, but how much and how soon cooperation can be accomplished to enhance cyber resilience, improve incident handling, and mitigate vulnerability to cyber-attacks.
Mr Gijsbers concluded, "NATO is building its relationship with some of the top SME and industry leaders on cyber. We are delivering on the guidance set out at the Wales Summit to intensify its co-operation with industry. NATO recognizes that working with world class and innovative industry will play a key role in addressing cyber threats. We a look forward to working even more closely with the private sector in the future."