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Siemens and 8 Industry Partners Sign Joint Cybersecurity Charter of Trust

Jane Alexander | February 17, 2018

Siemens and eight industry partners are joining together today at the 2018 Munich Security Conference to sign the first joint charter for greater cybersecurity. Initiated by Siemens, this Charter of Trust calls for binding rules and standards to build trust in cybersecurity and further advance digitalization.

Along with Siemens and the Munich Security Conference, signatories of the Charter include Airbus, Allianz, Daimler Group, IBM, NXP, SGS and Deutsche Telekom.

“Confidence that the security of data and networked systems is guaranteed is a key element of the digital transformation,” said Siemens president and CEO Joe Kaeser. “That’s why we have to make the digital world more secure and more trustworthy. It’s high time we acted, not just individually but jointly with strong partners who are leaders in their markets. We hope more partners will join us to further strengthen our initiative.”

Considering cybersecurity from a global perspective, the stakes are high for everyone. According to the 2017 “ENISA Threat Landscape Report,” cyber attacks caused damage totaling more than €560 billion worldwide in 2016 alone. For some European countries, the damage was equivalent to 1.6% of their GDP.

As signed by the nine industry partners today, the Charter of Trust delineates 10 action areas in cybersecurity where governments and businesses must both become active. Among other things, it calls for responsibility for cybersecurity to be assumed at the highest levels of government and business, with the introduction of a dedicated ministry in governments and a chief information security officer at companies. It also calls for companies to establish mandatory, independent third-party certification for critical infrastructure and solutions, including, above all, where dangerous situations can arise, such as with autonomous vehicles or robots that interact directly with humans during production processes. In the future, security and data protection functions are to be preconfigured as a part of technologies, and cybersecurity regulations are to be incorporated into free trade agreements. The signatories of the Charter are also calling for greater efforts to foster an understanding of cybersecurity through training and continuing education, as well as international initiatives.

“Secure digital networks are the critical infrastructure underpinning our interconnected world,” said Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland. “Canada welcomes the efforts of these key [nine] industry players to help create a safer cyberspace. Cybersecurity will certainly be a focus of Canada’s G7 presidency year.‎”‎

CLICK HERE to learn more about the cybersecurity Charter of Trust.

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Jane Alexander

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