Major tech leaders late last week signed a cybersecurity charter outlining methods for businesses and governments to increase their security positions.
The document was signed at the Munich Security Conference 2018, in Munich, Germany.
According to reports, ‘ The Charter of Trust’ was signed by representatives from Siemens, Airbus, Allianz, Daimler Group, IBM, MSC, NXP, SGS, and Deutsche Telekom.
The document, according to the charter’s website, is to increase trust in technology among individuals and organizations to boost efforts in digital transformation.
Joe Kaeser, Siemens president, and CEO said: “Confidence that the security of data and networked systems is guaranteed is a key element of the digital transformation, 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,” the Siemens boss said.
The charter calls for coordinated action around ownership for cyber and IT security, responsibility throughout the digital supply chain, security by default, user-centricity, innovation, and co-creation.
Others include; education, certification for critical infrastructure and solutions, transparency and response, regulatory framework, and joint initiatives.
The charter, calling for dedicated ministry in governments, and for all companies to create a CISO role, said cybersecurity should start at the top of an organization.
It also calls for mandatory “independent third-party certification for critical infrastructure and solutions – above all, where dangerous situations can arise, such as with autonomous vehicles or the robots of tomorrow, which will interact directly with humans during production processes.”
As governments and trade organizations collaborate, they must write cyber protections into free trade agreement as well, the charter said. It also calls for continued cyber education and training.
Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said in the release that, “Governments must take a leadership role when it comes to the transaction rules in cyberspace.”
“But the companies that are in the forefront of envisioning and designing the future of cyberspace must develop and implement the standards. That’s why the Charter is so important. Together with our partners, we want to advance the topic and help define its content,” the chairman averred.
