WHO-like global cyber security group needed to tackle cyber threats: Kundra

Salesforce.com executive vice-president of emerging markets,Vivek Kundra.

The formation of a global cyber security group similar to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is required in order to share vital information, according to former United States Federal Government chief information officer, Vivek Kundra.

Speaking at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Summit in Canberra, Kundra, who is now executive vice-president of emerging markets for Salesforce.com, said the proposal came as a result of trying to securely manage 2094 data centres during his CIO tenure at the White House.

In-depth: Information security 2011 Research Report.

“In the context of federal [government] systems, we realised that with 2094 data centres we were not very secure,” Kundra said. “The fragmented infrastructure and uneven talent distribution in terms of managing those data centres was creating vulnerabilities.”

Another problem Kundra faced was US government officials sometimes believing that because they owned and operated the system, they were more secure. “If you think about national security, our [US] command and control infrastructures have been under attack since the days of the Pony Express,” he said. As most of the world is now interconnected via the Web, Kundra said a WHO-like cyber security body could share information about risks and collaborate on a global level, much like the WHO does when assessing epidemics. “We can’t pretend that we live in a geographically constrained area when it comes to cyber security,” Kundra said. “The power of the internet allows you to plug into the global grid but also leaves you open to attack.”

See more at: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/415461/who-like_global_cyber_security_group_needed_tackle_cyber_threats_kundra/