Changing characteristics in private-public cybersecurity cooperation

By Kate Dinnison.

1. Techplomacy

First came the creation of a U.S. Government ambassador to the Silicon Valley, then came the world’s first national technology ambassador, Casper Klynge of Denmark.

The Danish government recognised the lacuna in communication between politics and the private sector tech giants like Facebook and Google that are shaping the global internet. “If you look at what impacts us in our daily lives and how much data they can pull on all of us… (the firms) are truly influential players”, Klynge said. Like diplomacy between nation states on cybersecurity matters, it is becoming increasingly important to discuss policy issues like counter-radicalisation, propaganda, and internet sovereignty with these companies.

2. Threat alliances

Organisations like the Cyber Threat Alliance headed up by a former Obama administration advisor, Michael Daniel. The unique organization aims to increase information sharing and change the rules of the road in cybersecurity competition. Instead of a field dominated by “my inadequate pool of data is bigger than your inadequate pool of data”, thinking as Daniel puts it, they aim to communicate about and minimise threats. Despite the size of any given company’s IT department, or cybersecurity team, all can benefit from the new vision of information sharing that includes government resources.

3. Anti-cybercrime collaboration

International Law Enforcement organisation INTERPOL is teaming up with Palo Alto Networks, an American network and enterprise security company, to combat the global phenomenon of cybercrime. Palo Alto became the first private cybersecurity company to sign a Data Exchange Agreement with the organisation, marking an important advancement in cross-sector data sharing for the purposes of protecting networks, information and, by extension, citizens. Their integration extends to the presence of members at operational briefings at both INTERPOL HQ and at Palo Alto’s flagship in Santa Clara, CA.