Microsoft and Fortinet are among the technology companies supporting the official launch of an effort to map cybercriminal activity and identify joint public and private sector responses to cyber threats.
Work on the Cybercrime Atlas will be conducted by the World Economic Forum for the next two to three years, it was announced today. The two tech companies, plus PayPal and Banco Santander, will help pay for the secretariat supporting Atlas until it is established enough to become an independent platform.
was announced At the annual meeting of the Forum in Switzerland.
The goal is to provide a platform for leading cybercrime investigators, national and international law enforcement agencies, and global businesses to share knowledge, generate policy recommendations, and identify opportunities for coordinated action to fight cyber threats.
First announced at the RSA conference in San Francisco in June 2022, the forum said in its statement that work on the Cybercrime Atlas has begun with an analysis of 13 criminal groups by cybercrime investigators.
“Cyber criminals operate in the shadows and exploit vulnerabilities to carry out devastating attacks,” Brad Smith, vice president and president of Microsoft, said in a statement. “Cybercrime Atlas provides a vital platform that brings together the public and private sectors to share actionable information and leverage cross-sector data, capabilities and expertise, which can disrupt cybercrime quickly and at scale.” important to do.”
Separately, the platform released its Annual Global Cyber Security Outlook, says its research shows that business leaders are more aware of cyber issues in their organizations than they were a year ago. “Yet,” said the report, “cyber leaders still struggle to articulate clearly the extent to which cyber issues plague their organizations in a language that their business counterparts do not fully understand.” understand and act on. As a result, agreeing on the best ways to deal with cyber risk remains a challenge for organizational leaders.”
Among the findings of the survey:
Business and cyber leaders rate global geopolitical instability as moderate or very high
A catastrophic cyber incident is expected in the next two years;
The character of cyber threats has changed. Respondents now believe that cyber attackers are more likely to focus on business disruption and reputational damage. These are the top two concerns among the respondents;
– 43 percent of business leaders believe a cyber attack is likely to materially impact their organization in the next two years;
– There are data security and cyber security concerns created by geopolitical fragmentation
increasingly influencing how businesses operate and the countries in which they invest;
– A shortage of skilled cyber experts is a threat to businesses and societies, with key sectors such as energy utilities reporting a 25 percent gap in critical skills. The report states that a comprehensive solution to increasing the supply of cyber professionals is to expand and promote inclusion and diversity efforts. Furthermore, understanding the broad spectrum of skills required today can help organizations expand their hiring pool;
Cyber executives are now more likely to view data privacy laws and cyber security regulations as effective tools for mitigating cyber risks in an area. The authors say this is a notable change in perception from the 2022 Outlook report.
Cyber and business leaders still have a lot of work to do to truly understand each other, clarify and translate the cyber issues that pose risks to their businesses
Meaningful management and mitigation measures, the report warns.
“As the cyber landscape promises to grow more complex in the years ahead, it is vital that organizations act to address this now if they are to build systemic cyber resilience for the long term.”
The report’s findings stemmed from an analysis of data from multiple sources: a survey of global organizational leaders; a workshop with the World Economic Forum’s Cyber Security Leadership Community and the Global Future Council on Cyber Security in October 2022, as well as workshops organized during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting on Cyber Security in November 2022; interviews with experts and bilateral meetings; Collection of data from reports, research and articles published by the World Economic Forum and reputable third parties; and consultations with 151 global organizational leaders.
