The school provided knowledge of the most significant ICT standards emerging for legislation, judiciary, parliamentary and administrative documents. The course provided an understanding of their impact in the different phases of the legislative and administrative process, awareness of the tools based on legal XML standards and their constellations, and the ability to participate in the preparation and use of standard-compliant documents throughout law-making process. This year the course took place in Ravenna, Italy, on 10-15 September 2012. It was followed on 17-18 September by a Akoma Ntoso Developers Workshop.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will hold a
Special Event on Cybersecurity and Development, organized jointly by
the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the
International Telecommunication Union, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1
p.m. on 9 December.
The UK government is failing to take a strong lead in protecting critical systems such as power and water from cyber attack, according to a leading think tank. Chatham House said there was a reluctance to share information with institutions that might be targeted. It also criticised those same institutions for putting up with an "unacceptably high level of risk".
The Obama administration is seeking tougher sentences for people who are found guilty of hacking or other digital offenses, two officials said. Associate Deputy Attorney General James Baker and Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Pablo Martinez said the maximum sentences for cyber crimes have failed to keep pace with the severity of the threats. Martinez said hackers are often members of sophisticated criminal networks.
IT security firm McAfee claims to have uncovered one of the largest ever series of cyber attacks. It lists 72 different organisations that were targeted over five years, including the International Olympic Committee, the UN and security firms.
Story | 18/07/2011 - 11:40 | U.S. Department of Defense
The Department of Defense released the DoD Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace (DSOC). It is the first DoD unified strategy for cyberspace and officially encapsulates a new way forward for DoD’s military, intelligence and business operations. “It is critical to strengthen our cyber capabilities to address the cyber threats we’re facing,” said Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta.
The Pentagon has admitted it suffered a major cyber attack in which thousands of files were taken by foreign hackers. Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said that in a March attack and other breaches, hackers had taken information on "our most sensitive systems". The admission came as the Pentagon rolled out a strategy for strengthening US cyber capabilities and addressing threats and attacks in cyberspace. The plan would treat cyberspace in a similar manner to land, air and sea.
There is no such thing as 100 percent security, on- or offline, but we must strive to strengthen our defenses against those who are constantly working to do us harm. There are some in Congress who resist taking action on cyber-threats this year, but we must put partisan politics aside, given the danger of this threat. The alternative could be a digital Pearl Harbor — and another day of infamy.
Online security risks have become increasingly prevalent with the likes of Anonymous and LulzSec continuing to expose the sorry state of corporate network security, and policymakers are clamoring to “do something” to address the threat. Unfortunately, there is a tendency in Washington to employ the rhetoric of war when talking about cybersecurity, which is a very dangerous tendency.
Kenya released volumes of government data as it launched a web portal allowing free information access, a system billed as the first of its kind in sub-Sahara Africa. Population statistics, government expenditure, public health, education, parliamentary proceedings and other public information will be available in a digital format.
The International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA) has been set up to fight cybercrime on a global scale. Launched in London, the new body unites governments, international businesses and law enforcement agencies, including Europol.
The OECD issued a communication on developing Internet policy that puts pressure on ISPs to take responsibility for policing their networks. [...] But civil liberties groups, worried that it puts too much emphasis on intellectual property enforcement, have criticized the text.
Key players in the Internet world stressed that the "light touch" approach to regulation, along with a free flow of information remained vital to life on the web, the OECD said on after a two-day meeting. But governments "should improve their efforts to protect personal data, the freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights online," the meeting of OECD governments, businesses bodies and technical experts agreed.
