The United Nations (UN) International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced the launch of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) to measure the status of cybersecurity worldwide, the UN said in a statement.
The GCI, partnered with ABI Research, said its aim in the short term was to close security gaps, particularly in developing countries, while in the long it was to drive the efforts in the adoption of cybersecurity on a global scale.
“A comparison of national cybersecurity strategies will reveal those countries with high rankings in specific area, and consequently highlight lesser know – yet successful – cybersecurity strategies,” the ITU statement said.
The UN announcement came during the agency’s World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC) in Dubai.
“Greater connectivity also brings with it greater risk,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré.
“As our physical and cyber worlds overlap, there is an increased need to address the related challenges of ensuring security, human rights, rule of law, good governance and economic development,” he added.
The Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, told the Dubai forum: “In embracing technological progress, cybersecurity must form an integral and invisible part of that process,. Unfortunately, cybersecurity is not yet at the core of many national and industrial technology strategies.”
Based on questionnaire responses received by ITU member States, ITU said a first analysis of cybersecurity development in the Arab region already was compiled and one for the Africa region is under way. The objective, it said, is to release a global status of cybersecurity for 2014.