Cybersecurity experts from around the world recently gathered at the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS) in The Hague. Over a thousand delegates from across the private sector, government and civil society attended the main conference, and many used the opportunity to promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, enhance capacity building and to discuss norms of state behavior in cyberspace.
While such events are easily dismissed, I came away from the conference more convinced than ever that there that meaningful international cooperation possible. Public private sector cooperation is critical to protect the free, open and secure Internet that we have all grown used to and our economies increasingly depend on. Numerous events have taken place over the past year –one only needs to open a newspaper- that drove home the fact that while cyberspace provides us with numerous opportunities, it also increases the potential for actors wishing to do harm. Indeed, many of my discussions highlighted the increased awareness that virtual attacks might cause real and physical damage that could result in loss of life, or indeed spill over into a kinetic reaction.
