ESADE and Zurich advocate a supranational body as a global cyber governance framework

Today in Madrid, Zurich Seguros and the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics (ESADEgeo), a leading authority in the field of global governance, presented a report entitled “Global Cyber Governance: Preparing for New Business Risks”. The report proposes new measures to strengthen the global governance framework for managing changes in cyber risks. The presentation featured appearances by Javier Solana, President of ESADEgeo, Dominik Bark, Head of Financial Lines for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Zurich Global Corporate, and other representatives of the public and private sectors.

Dr. Solana began his remarks by noting how quickly the world is changing. “Everything happens at the speed of light,” he commented. “Everyone communicates, and we are all connected to one another. In the first place, I am primarily concerned with defining a governance framework that involves public and private institutions working together to protect privacy and intellectual property.”

According to the new report, although emerging technologies such as drones, 3D printing and self-driving cars are changing the nature of cyber risk, current regulations and the existing global governance systems are insufficient to ensure the security of the world’s cyber infrastructure.

Companies in nearly every sector are exposed to cyber threats that have the potential to cause immense harm to their reputation as well as physical damages, liabilities and regulatory costs. If these threats are not brought under control, they could severely affect technical and economic development worldwide.

Dominik Bark, of Zurich Global Corporate, commented: “The importance of technology security extends beyond the IT department. It is an issue that should involve the entire company, with the close involvement of the management team.”

The report presentation featured appearances by leading cybersecurity experts such as Joaquín Castellón, Operations Directors of the Spanish National Security Department, Martín Borrett, IBM Distinguished Engineer and CTO of IBM Security Europe, and Adolfo Hernández, Deputy Director of Thiber.

All of the speakers discussed their vision of cyber risks. The common denominator of their remarks was the importance of detecting risks, protecting key assets, and reacting quickly when necessary.

As for policy recommendations, the report calls for the creation of a Council on Cyberstability that would strengthen global institutions and isolate them from geopolitical tensions, as well as the creation of a cyber alert system to improve crisis management based on the model of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The report also encourages the private sector to participate in the exchange of information and to adopt an approach that would increase its overall cyber-resilience in order to address deficiencies of context.