With increasing dependency and convergence of different services with the communications network, the threat over cyber security is at an all time high. And this sentiment found mention in ITU’s ongoing event in Geneva.

As an objective to have a global resource centre in times of cyber security threats, IMPACT (the International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Threats) has set up its Global Response Centre (GRC) in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The centre aims to proactively track and defend against cyber threats.

ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré called upon nations to give importance to cyber peace as every country today is dependent on technology for commerce, finance, healthcare, emergency services and food distribution.

Sami Al-Basheer, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), in charge of deployment of such capabilities said that it was for the first time that so many nations (37 with 15 more expected to join) were participating in the initiative.

“While governments remain responsible for the security of a nation’s critical infrastructure, the expertise to counter these threats is dispersed across the globe, and in many cases, found within the private sector and academia. IMPACT creates a unique platform for these groups to collaborate in preventing and responding to cyberattacks. The GRC is an excellent example of this, with intelligence from leading industry players consolidated to serve as a virtual situation room for governments,” said Mohamed Shihab, Technical Advisor, Chairman’s Office, IMPACT.

Industry partners in the project include Arbor Networks, F-Secure, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, SANS Institute, Secunia, Symantec, Sophos, SRI-MTC and Trend Micro, which provide the GRC with live data inputs to enable real-time analysis, aggregation, and dissemination of global cyber threat information.

"Cybersecurity is now a priority on the institutional agenda," declared the Italian Minister for Economic Development, Claudio Scajola. That is why the Italian government intends to lend its full support to the plan organized by Poste Italiane and to international cooperation in the sector, in order to encourage the development of policies aimed at guaranteeing security in digital communications."