|
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany -- The light goes out. Residents
look to the utility company to fix it, but it's a cyber-attack, and
the privately-owned company is not equipped to handle it. The public
then looks to the government, which does have the resources for such
an attack, but does not provide the electricity.
|
Marty Edwards, assistant deputy director of National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, and director of Industrial Control Systems, Cyber Emergency Response Team at U.S. Department of Homeland Security, talks about how critical infrastructure is not uniquely or entirely owned by the government so a partnership between the government and the private sector should exist to 81 cyber-security professionals from 22 countries at the International Cyber Summit Sept. 22,
2015 at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. (Marshall Center photo by Karl-Heinz Wedhorn)
|
“That's the ‘Triangle of Pain,' where nobody quite knows who is
responsible for protecting critical infrastructure from
cyber-attacks,” said Simon Ruffle, director of Technology Research
and Innovation at the Centre for Risk Studies at Cambridge
University. “You've got the public looking to and expecting the
government to keep the critical infrastructure working. To fulfill
that, the government has to talk to the private sector.”
Government partnership with private industry was one of the main
topics covered at the “Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key
Resources in, from and through Cyberspace” summit held Sept. 22 and
23, 2015 at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security
Studies.
“We have to work together,” said Charles Kosak,
deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Continuity and
Mission Assurance in Washington, D.C. “The cyber threats that exist
today are so complicated and bigger than any one individual,
directorate, department, agency or even governments. These
challenges require governments to work together, to include outreach
and partnership with the private sector and industry.”
More than 80 cyber experts working in government
agencies and privately-owned companies from 22 countries attended
the conference, sponsored by the U.S. European Command and Marshall
Center.
“The Marshall Center is a great institution and was
key in bringing policymakers and cyber experts together to talk
about how we can address cyber-attacks in the future,” said U.S.
Army Brig. Gen. Welton Chase Jr., director of Cyber at EUCOM.
In December 2014, the Marshall Center developed a comprehensive
program to explore the increasing domestic, international and
transnational challenges in cyber security – Program on Cyber
Security Studies.
“Our new cyber security course aims very
high,” said Dr. Robert Brannon, dean of the College of International
and Security Studies at the Marshall Center. “Our objectives are to
influence good governance by way of legislation, policy, and
strategy. Lots of other institutions are addressing cyber security
threats at the technical level – but as far as I know, we are the
only ones looking specifically at policy.”
Guest speakers
included ministries of interior, ministry of internal security and
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, as well as private
industry professionals.
“For me and our working group, it's
been very helpful to hear (other government agencies and private
industry) perspectives that we in the DOD don't often hear,” said
Dr. John Clarke, professor of leadership, management and defense
planning at the Marshall Center, and who led one of the focus group
during the conference. “The question I think we all have to answer
is what is the proper role of the Ministry of Defense – DOD – in
ensuring that not only its cyber security, but also cyber security
that is in private hands. It's incumbent upon the military to find a
way to work effectively with private industry to ensure the
reliability of those systems.”
Presentations and panel
discussions covered in the two days included: identification of best
practices in the absence of standards; working together to bring
best practices forward to industry to be adopted as standards or
best practices; risk management and security controls in a mission
assurance environment; the industry standards used to perform
self-assessments of cyber health and threats; and, the challenges of
conducting normal daily activities while under the constant threat
of adversaries.
By Christine June
George C. Marshall Center for Security
Studies
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
Comment on this article |
