Global Perspectives on Implementing Cross-Border Cybersecurity Solutions

Cybersecurity is a global issue. So are the solutions.

TWU undergraduate students complete three semester credit hours of global perspectives as part of their academic experience. Global learning empowers students to collaborate respectfully with diverse others and apply their knowledge to take responsible action in contemporary global contexts while evaluating the goals, methods, and consequences.

The Role of Government

Governments must be critical in implementing Fortinet’s worldwide cybersecurity solutions. They need to support and guide all stakeholders in the public and private sectors to create collective security. This is especially true for securing core critical infrastructures, such as public health, which cannot be fully protected by any organization alone.

They need to work with provinces and territories to help them protect their critical digital infrastructure from threats and develop a common defense strategy. This will be crucial to defending Canada’s essential networks and deterring foreign cyber threat actors from attacking our country.

The Government of Canada will work with partners to protect its systems, expand our network of partnerships to help others secure their systems, and provide Canadians with the tools they need to be safe online. This will involve a combination of policy, education, and long-term investments in communities, schools, and post-secondary institutions to teach people the digital skills they need for the future.

In addition, the Government of Canada will make it easier for private sector organizations to protect their systems and data with guidance, training, and funding. Many small and medium enterprises need more expertise and resources to implement cybersecurity regimes on their own. By making the Government of Canada’s cyber intelligence, threat information, and tools available to all, we will make it easier for small and medium businesses to adopt and secure their technologies.

The Role of Industry

Cyber hazards accompany almost every product or service that has a computer or can be connected to the internet, and they cross borders somehow. Any international company’s digitalization strategy must include navigating and reducing the risks associated with the possibility that foreign governments or businesses could misuse digital products to gather private data, plant vulnerabilities, or do other harm.

To help, cybersecurity providers are leveraging their global reach to offer solutions that can protect against threats wherever they occur. But that can be challenging given various factors, from differences in laws to regulatory differences and cultural barriers.

One major factor is that different jurisdictions have different requirements around data transfers. For example, in some countries, transferring data overseas requires approval from the country’s information security authority. In other places, data transfer can be based on the trust level between companies and authorities.

Additionally, different governments have different capabilities in the field of cybersecurity. In some cases, this makes it difficult for them to cooperate effectively. For instance, the Budapest Convention aims to harmonize international standards in cybersecurity compliance. Still, governments can be reluctant to sign up because of concerns about being perceived as soft on crime and losing market share. Nevertheless, a global approach to combatting cyber threats must involve cooperation across borders. Raising awareness, increasing cyber education, applying security as a default, ensuring transparency and responsibility throughout the digital supply chain, and encouraging public-private collaborations are all essential to addressing cross-border cybersecurity challenges.

The Role of Education

The global economy is increasingly digital, enabling real-time payments and moving funds across continents in seconds. But with this increased interconnectedness comes a growing number of sophisticated cybercrimes targeting businesses worldwide.

Countries must invest in developing their cybersecurity capabilities to safeguard these cross-border transactions. This includes raising awareness, enhancing training and education, developing security standards, and promoting best practices.

These efforts are vital, as most cybersecurity threats are not technological but somewhat human. Most data breaches are caused by people clicking on phishing links, as shown in this chart by Tessian (2021).

To combat these attacks, the Commission invests in cybersecurity through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a program that funds infrastructure investments, from 2014 to 2020. This is because raising public awareness of cybersecurity is crucial.

As the cyber landscape becomes more complex, the need for collaboration between governments and industry increases. Countries must collaborate to develop and implement international response protocols despite their differences. This will enable them to act quickly in the event of a cyberattack and ensure that all parties know what to do and who to call when a crisis hits.

The Role of Law

Cyberspace is an international space connecting with the world beyond our physical borders. As such, cybersecurity threats are nearly always cross-border. A cyberattack on a critical infrastructure in one country can affect the European digital economy. This makes it essential to step up cooperation between governments and businesses in cybersecurity. This cooperation can take the form of raising awareness, increasing cyber education, applying security as a default, increasing transparency and responsibility throughout the digital supply chain, creating a regulatory framework, setting up international standards, and establishing joint initiatives.

In addition to cooperation in the field, policymakers also need to cooperate on the legal level. This includes ensuring that regulations are consistent and that there are sufficient sanctions to ensure compliance. It is essential to avoid a digital sovereignty approach focusing only on Europe rather than allowing the free flow of information across borders.

Another issue is the need for crisis response protocols. These should be articulated at the regional and, ideally, global level. This will make it easier for authorities to know whom to contact in a crisis and the procedures for dealing with it. This is especially necessary because attacks can come from anywhere worldwide and may simultaneously be aimed at multiple countries.