International cooperation imperative in the face of evolving cybersecurity threats

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/7 19:23:40

Song Haiyan Photo: Li Qiaoyi/GT





Technological advancements, while making life simpler and smarter, have heightened cybersecurity woes. Cybersecurity readiness and resilience has therefore become one of the battlefields for industries and governments to flex their muscles. 

That said, there is still a good chance of greater cooperation between major technology powers, notably China and the US, in the cyber world, despite their lingering trade tensions.

The pace and scale at which new technologies are being introduced "is increasing the cyberattack surface for malicious actors to exploit," per a new report the World Economic Forum released Wednesday. Cyberattacks have almost doubled over the past five years with no sign of slowing down, said the report. These cyberattacks are seen to span from privacy and confidentiality infringements to compromises of system integrity and accessibility.

Worryingly, cybersecurity woes are on the rise. The data would continue to explode in speed, volume and variety that have never before been seen, and cloud transformation is going to take a lot of the traditional workload that had been done within enterprises into the public cloud. 

Additionally, the penetration of emerging technologies such as 5G is going to bring faster speed and connectivity in a way that will pose a lot of additional vulnerabilities and open up new attack methods. 

This means if you don't have technology and develop innovations to be better able to detect and monitor threats, and respond at machine speed, you will not get a chance to thrive in the digital era.

With technologies being utilized in many ways as new forms of leverage, cybersecurity strength is therefore of growing importance for the business community and countries across the globe to flex their muscles. 

While competition seems inevitable, collaboration in many ways is considered the only way for the cybersecurity community to continue to advance. Therefore, regardless of the trade tensions, for the common good of the world, it is believed that for China and the US, the more collaboration the better when it comes to cybersecurity.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Li Qiaoyi based on an exclusive interview with Song Haiyan, senior vice president and general manger of Security Markets at US data analytics firm Splunk, at the just-concluded World Economic Forum's Summer Davos in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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