A Collaborative Approach To Cybersecurity

"Attackers — in ever greater numbers and with increasing sophistication — see, in the growing promise of our tech-connected world, opportunities to steal or cause major disruption or destruction by exploiting vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, as technology’s benefits expand and evolve, so too will the threats. Countering those threats and ensuring the resilience of our cyber-enabled systems will require flexibility and an ability to evolve as well."

So states the BSA Software Alliance in their recently released report, EU Cybersecurity Dashboard: A Path to a Secure European Cyberspace. The purpose of the report was to lay the groundwork for governments to develop the necessary policies, legal frameworks and implementation infrastructure to protect their connected systems and prevent, mitigate and respond to cyberattacks. And while the report was focused on members of the EU, the same policies and framework can be and should be considered globally.

The report examined five key areas of cybersecurity policy:

• Legal foundations
• Operational capabilities
• Public-private partnerships
• Sector-specific cybersecurity plans, and
• Education

I found the discussion around the importance of public-private partnerships of particular interest. The report concluded that since most infrastructure is owned by the private sector, making effective public-private cooperation is essential. Cooperation between stakeholders by sharing information, experience and perspective will greatly improve the effectiveness of risk management. I couldn’t agree more. This is the main reason why Wibu-Systems is involved with so many industry associations, such as the Alliance for Cyber Security, which consists of a community of enterprises, government bodies, municipalities and private users, dedicated to strengthening security protocols.

Just as collaborations between the public and private sectors is important, so are collaborations between technology companies. For example, as an active member in the Silicon Trust, we are working side by side with companies like Infineon, Deutsche Telekom and others to develop security solutions in support of the success of Industry 4.0. In partnership with Wind River, our technology is also helping to provide greater security for their VxWorks platform, the most widely used real-time operating system for embedded systems.

With Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, the vision of a world characterized by a myriad of interconnected embedded devices is rapidly emerging. So too is a wave of new cyberthreats to people, processes and technology. Intellectual property protection, tamper-proofing, and cybersecurity are becoming essential for the business of machine producers and operators alike. Our goal, in conjunction with our partners, is to make a significant contribution to this new interconnected world by continuing to develop and improve cybersecurity technology to protect against cyberattacks and make the world a safer place.

Read more about Wibu-Systems protection suite for embedded systems.