Cybersecurity Symposium

The explosive growth in the use of ICT infrastructure and our increased reliance on electronic communications networks has heightened concerns around the world about cybersecurity [1]. There is a growing recognition at the national, regional and international levels of the need to develop, deploy and promote policies, standards, technical guidelines and procedures to reduce threats to ICT systems and networks and to protect the information stored and communicated using these systems

As part of its response to these concerns, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) [2] will host a Cybersecurity Symposium on Monday, October 4^th, the day before the opening of the its World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-04) in Florianopolis, Brazil (October 5^th-14^th, 2004). The Symposium will bring together senior experts from governments, computer emergency response teams (CERTs), network operators and equipment manufacturers to address the current state of cybersecurity and future approaches to ensuring security in cyberspace.  By providing a high-level overview of the subject and offering practical experiences in dealing with specific threats and reducing security vulnerabilities, the symposium aims to raise awareness of the critical and global nature of the problem and the need for international cooperation, particularly in area of standards development.  And, in keeping with a symposium’s interactive format, moderated sessions will include both the opportunity for discussion amongst the experts and time for questions from participants.

The symposium programme will comprise sessions on issues associated with cybersecurity threats; on experiences with and responses to actual threats; on standards, policy, regulatory and legal tools and initiatives to secure cyberspace; and, to wrap up, a panel discussion on the lessons learned and way forward.  While the outcomes of the event are not intended to be prescriptive, the conclusions reached will serve as a useful basis for future work in ITU-T, CITEL PCC.I, other standards development organizations, as well as complement the cybersecurity related activities of other international organizations including the OAS.

The complete programme of the symposium, the biographies of the presentors and moderators, as well as registration and related information is available at the ITU Website