[council] CEOs and Directors Need to Tackle Cyber Security Threats

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http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-12dec07.htm
CEOs and Directors Need to Tackle Cyber Security Threats

Report Highlights New Security Environment and Critical Steps for CEOs 
to Protect their Business

12 December 2007

Washington, D.C. - CEOs must make cyber security a top priority or their 
businesses could fall victim to industrial espionage similar to recent 
cyber attacks on such large companies as Rolls-Royce and Royal Dutch 
Shell. That's the conclusion the report Cyber Attack: A Risk Management 
Primer for CEOs and Directors released today by the British-North 
American Committee (BNAC) and the Atlantic Council of the United States, 
a U.S. sponsor of the Committee.

The one global Internet, for which the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates addresses, makes possible about 
$2.8 trillion in global e-commerce annually.

"As enterprise on the Internet has become more sophisticated, so have 
cyber criminals," said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and CEO, and 
one of the report's main authors. "The message of this report is clear - 
senior government figures and leaders of corporations need to make 
cyber-security a personal priority."

"Global investors, CEOs and board directors, while measuring risks to 
the corporate bottom line, will have to know what they are doing to 
prevent data compromises. CEOs are not IT experts and they don't have to 
be. This report is a quick comprehensive reference list of things that 
every chief executive should know and do," said William Mayer, founder 
of Park Avenue Equity Partners and chairman of the BNAC Cyber Security 
and Business working group.

"We live in a completely different environment wherein people and 
businesses are dependent on technology and the Internet and while this 
helps us run are companies better, we need to realize that there are 
corresponding risks and threats. Cyber security is therefore critical to 
the success of every enterprise," said Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council 
president and CEO and a BNAC member. "It must be an integral part of 
every CEO and directors thinking and planning."

The report calls on CEOs and corporate directors to take actions to 
protect their businesses and organizations from cyber attacks. It 
identifies information security threats, and most commonly made mistakes 
in data security and provides recommendations for business and corporate 
leaders to manage cyber security risks.

"This report is a timely reminder to all organisations - large and 
small, public and private - of the need keep up with best data security 
practices. The risks are very real but help is at hand," said Clive 
Mather, until recently president and CEO of Shell Canada and a BNAC member.

Among its recommendations, the report urges CEOs and directors to:

     * Establish a comprehensive information security policy, 
implemented by senior management;
     * Hold a company-wide security audit to expose vulnerabilities and 
strengths and give a complete picture of an organization's security 
requirements;
     * Underpin a robust security culture with frequent and rigorous 
testing; and
     * Prioritize keeping abreast of changes in security technology and 
best practices, including through participation in relevant 
international information security organizations.

The report further provides a comprehensible information security 
checklist of recommendations chief executives and directors must follow 
to protect their corporations against industry espionage. Endorsed by 
members of the British-North American Committee, a group of 
distinguished business, academic, and labor leaders from the United 
Kingdom, the United States and Canada, the report is available online at 
http://www.acus.org/docs/071212_Cyber_Attack_Report.pdf [PDF, 1,400].

About the British-North American Committee:
Launched in 1969, the British-North American Committee (BNAC) is a group 
of leaders from business, labor, and academia in Canada, the United 
Kingdom and the United States committed to harmonious, constructive 
relations among the three countries and their citizens. BNAC is 
sponsored by three nonprofit research organizations - the British-North 
American Research Association in London, the Atlantic Council in 
Washington, and the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto. Alan R. Griffith, 
formerly of the Bank of New York, and Sir Paul Judge, chairman of 
Teachers TV, are, respectively, the North American and British 
co-chairmen. Professor Thomas H.B. Symons, C.C. is chairman of the 
Executive Committee.

About The Atlantic Council of the United States:
Founded in 1961, The Atlantic Council of the United States is an 
independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to stimulating dialogue 
and discussion about critical international issues with a view to 
enriching public debate and promoting consensus on appropriate responses 
in the Administration, the Congress, the corporate and nonprofit 
sectors, and the media in the United States and among leaders in Europe, 
Asia, and the Americas. The Atlantic Council's mission is to promote 
constructive U.S. leadership in international affairs based on the 
central role of the Atlantic Community in meeting the global challenges 
of the twenty-first century. For more information about the Council's 
work, please visit its website on www.acus.org.

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Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat - ICANN
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