RIYADH: Domestic and international cooperation are crucial components of the global cybersecurity agenda, according to Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union.
Speaking at the panel discussion titled “Navigating the future: Advancing international cooperation to build confidence in cyberspace” during the Global Cybersecurity Forum in Riyadh, she emphasized the urgent need for enhanced global efforts to combat cyber threats.
Bogdan-Martin noted that international collaboration is vital for addressing the transnational nature of these threats. Such cooperation allows for the sharing of best practices, intelligence, and resources, which strengthens collective cyber resilience.
In 2023, cyberattacks impacted over 343 million victims, and data breaches rose by 72 percent between 2021 and 2023, breaking previous records, according to Forbes Advisor.
“There’s still some gap that’s remaining. I think we are progressing on the right track, but we need to do more; we need to go faster; we need to go deeper,” she said.
“We have a global cybersecurity agenda that we laid out back in 2007, and I actually think it’s still very relevant today,” Bogdan-Martin.
She highlighted the importance of establishing a robust legal and regulatory framework, operational preparedness, and capacity building as critical components in addressing cyber challenges, adding that “cooperation, both domestically and internationally,” is vital.
Bogdan-Martin noted that the landscape has become increasingly complex, particularly with the emergence of artificial intelligence. “Look at just the past year and a half and how generative AI has sort of swept the planet. I don’t think we understood how quickly the technology would evolve, but we knew that we had to be building safety by design back in the day,” she said.
In a separate panel, titled “Crime Inc: The institutionalization of organized cybercrime,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Josh Goldfoot from the US Department of Justice shed light on the structured nature of cybercrime.
“The message I wanted to convey about how cybercrime is organized is that it is dispersed and centered around specialization,” Goldfoot explained. “One attack on a company requires several different components: malware, reconnaissance, penetration, and, finally, economic exploitation.”
Goldfoot elaborated that cybercriminals often specialize in specific aspects of an attack and advertise their services to others in online forums.
Experts from technology, public policy, defense, and other sectors gathered in Riyadh for the two-day Global Cybersecurity Forum, focusing on the theme “Advancing Collective Action in Cyberspace.”
The event was aimed at enhancing multi-stakeholder engagement and driving joint initiatives on key strategic priorities, featuring five core sub-themes that address critical aspects of cybersecurity.
