Key Takeaways
- A panel convened by the World Economic Forum discussed evolving cybersecurity threats.
- Panelists noted that old boundaries between state actors and criminal adversaries no longer apply.
- They agreed that defending against modern threats requires a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach.
Governments can no longer treat cybersecurity as a separate domain from national security. That was the takeaway from a World Economic Forum panel on the “New Cyber Order” on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Panelists all agreed that in the current age, when warfare is increasingly digital and the line between state and non-state threats is blurred, governments and corporations must cooperate to protect their shared interests.
From Hacking to Cyber Warfare
In the past, hacking was mostly associated with rogue individuals seeking clout or financial gain. Today, however, those same tactics are deployed by terrorist groups, organized criminal networks, military and intelligence agencies, and clandestine, state-backed outfits operating outside traditional national structures.
North Korea’s Lazarus, China’s Salt Typhoon, and Russia’s APT 28 all erode the boundary between spycraft and old-school hacking.
Meanwhile, tools and tactics that were once the preserve of criminals are increasingly dispatched on the battlefield.
In conflicts around the world, from Ukraine to the Middle East, adversaries now use ransomware and attempt to hack into each other’s systems, observed Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the UAE government’s head of cybersecurity.
Such instances of digital warfare have increased “exponentially” creating the need for new national cyber defences across all sections of society, he stressed.
Cooperation and Cybersecurity
The WEF panel members all agreed that for governments building up cyber defences, modern threats require a coordinated, interdepartmental response.
“We need to get much better about working across governments,” observed former NATO Defence Advisor Rachel Ellehuus.
To defend against diverse economic and psychological threats, governments must adopt a more unified and dynamic cybersecurity posture, she argued.
Echoing Ellehuus, the head of WEF’s Cybersecurity Center, Jeremy Jurgens, called for a more “interdisciplinary approach” that incorporates “diverse […] defensive mechanisms.”
Moreover, interdisciplinarity shouldn’t be limited to government departments, panelists emphasized.
They called for more effective sharing of knowledge and practices between allies and greater collaboration between the public and private sector.
Beyond national security, such partnerships can also spur economic growth. As articulated by Helmut Reisinger, CEO for EMEA at Palo Alto Networks, “value is created by cooperation.”
Recommended Secure Partners
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
