An international conference on cyber security opened today in London with more than one hundred experts and stakeholders pledging their energies and commitments to finding lasting and sustainable policies and practices to curbing cyber attacks and managing general social threats in cyber space.

The two-day forum, under the theme “Common Responses to a Global Challenge” has been organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in conjunction with the UK Cabinet Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA), the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and the UK Department of Business Innovation & Skills (BIS).

With representations from countries such as the UK, Sweden, Nigeria, Canada, Germany, USA, Latvia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Cameroon, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, Ghana, Sri Lanka, India among others, participants will be discussing cyber issues such as critical information infrastructure protection, security in mobile channels, international cooperation, child abuse, identity fraud and general privacy on the net.

In a welcome address, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, CEO of the CTO, acknowledged the vast nature of the subject of cyber security, especially in relation to the fact that ICT growth is increasing by the minute and more online communities are being created daily. “We generally acknowledge that we live in an Information and Knowledge Age in which cyber societies are daily being created. And as ICT infrastructures and the use of ICT terminals and handsets penetrate deeper into rural populations, affecting all facets of human activity, Cybersecurity is increasingly becoming important. From appointments with nurses and doctors for child immunisation, to obtaining market price information for farmers, and from checking examination results by students, to registering businesses online or for transferring cash to relatives, nearly 6 billion people in the world today are dependent in one form or the other on ICTs for their daily existence,” said Dr. Spio-Garbrah.  
Continuing his presentation, the CTO Chief Executive, said: “As we know, ICTs are used not only for social communications; they play a critical role in commerce and governance. The exponential growth of e-Governance and e-Commerce applications and solutions, not only in developed countries but in developing countries, attest to the speed with which innovation has combined with entrepreneurship and political will to create new opportunities for marginalised people to play a meaningful role in the e-society.”
Dr Spio-Garbrah also enumerated some of the CTO’s achievements and touted the key role played by the organisation in helping Commonwealth and other countries make progress in their ICT developmental agenda.
In a brief address, the Honourable Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Minister of Information and Communications from Sierra Leone, recalled some of the cyber attacks that have recently plagued some African governments where critical information has been siphoned through cyber break-ins. He said Sierra Leone is aware of the importance of cyber security in operating an efficient and more effective national security programme and is working on a number of policy and legislative instruments to ensure cyber protection along its legislative bills for Freedom of Information.
Declaring the conference officially opened, Mr Stephen Cutts, Assistant Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, admitted that “Cyber Security is one of the greatest challenges of our time” and that the challenge is posed to both developing and countries for reasons that cyber crime knows no international boundaries. He said with a huge number of businesses and transactions taking place online, and with more and more consumers putting trust in the Internet it is also crucial that the proper mechanisms are instituted to ensure total data protection and general web security. Mr Cutts mentioned some of the initiatives undertaken by the Commonwealth Secretariat and its sister entities are doing, including the formation of the Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum, to help make cyber space a safe place for all users. He also agreed to a suggestion from the CTO that the Commonwealth Secretariat could take the lead in promoting common policies within the Commonwealth on Cybersecurity
A discussion panel made up of Mr Neil Thompson, Director, Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance; Mr Marnix Dekker, European Network and Information Agency; Mr John Crain, Chief Technical Officer, ICANN; and Mr John Bassett, Associate Fellow, RUSI examined the role of governments in enacting cyber security policies and legislations. There was a view during this panel discussion that although there were a range of technology solutions to cyber threats and cyber crime, the real teeth could only come from effective policies and legislation which would allow law enforcement officers a basis for taking quick action to fight cyber crime.
The conference continues tomorrow with more cutting edge issues to be discussed.