YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE MUGREN BIN ABDUL AZIZ AL-SAUD

YOUR EXCELLENCY DR. HAMADOUN TOURE
SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION

HONOURABLE MINISTERS AND DEPUTY MINISTERS

EXCELLENCIES

DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN


1. IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO JOIN YOU AT THE LAUNCH OF “IMPACT” AND THE INAUGURAL ‘IMPACT WORLD CYBER SECURITY SUMMIT’.

2. IN THE CYBER REALM, 20TH MAY 2008 MARKS A TRULY A MOMENTOUS, IF NOT HISTORIC, DATE. ON THIS DAY, WE HAVE ASSEMBLED BEFORE US FOREMOST POLICY-MAKERS, PRACTITIONERS AND EXPERTS IN THE FIELD OF CYBER-SECURITY FROM OVER 30 COUNTRIES, ACROSS ALL CONTINENTS.

3. WE HAVE COME TOGETHER TO WITNESS THE LAUNCH OF IMPACT— THE WORLD’S FIRST PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE TO ADDRESS CYBER THREATS. WE HAVE ALSO GATHERED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INAUGURAL ‘IMPACT WORLD CYBER SECURITY SUMMIT”.

4. I AM INFORMED THAT THE IMPACT SUMMIT IS, BY FAR, THE LARGEST MINISTERIAL-LEVEL GATHERING EVER ORGANISED ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER TO-DATE. I VIEW THIS AS AN AFFIRMATION OF THE GREAT SUPPORT THAT MANY GOVERNMENTS AND CONCERNED ORGANISATIONS HAVE FOR IMPACT’S MISSION AND OBJECTIVES OF PROVIDING A SAFER, MORE SECURE CYBER-SPACE FOR ALL.

5. IN THIS REGARD, WE VIEW THIS FIRST IMPACT SUMMIT TO BE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT. IT NOT ONLY SERVES AS A PLATFORM FOR COUNTRIES TO SHARE INFORMATION, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE ON CYBER-SECURITY POLICIES, TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS. IT IS ALSO MEANT TO GIVE COUNTRIES A SAY IN SHAPING THE ORGANISATION THAT IMPACT WILL BECOME.

6. THEREFORE, ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA, I WISH TO EXTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO ALL PARTICIPANTS, SPEAKERS AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM GOVERNMENTS, INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA PRESENT HERE TODAY. I AM CONFIDENT THAT WITH YOUR SUPPORT AND EXPERTISE, OUR SHARED VISION OF A SAFER AND MORE SECURE CYBER-SPACE FOR ALL WILL BE ACHIEVED, GOD-WILLING.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

7. CYBER-SECURITY IS, AND MUST NECESSARILY BE, AN AREA OF CONCERN FOR US ALL. WE NOW LIVE IN A HIGHLY CONNECTED DIGITAL WORLD, WHERE EVERY ASPECT OF OUR DAILY LIVES FROM COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLIC UTILITIES, FINANCIAL NETWORKS TO NATIONAL DEFENCE - AND SO MUCH MORE, ARE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (I.C.T.) TO FUNCTION.

8. WE RECOGNISE AND CELEBRATE I.C.T.’S INFLUENCE IN ENABLING, EMPOWERING AND ENRICHING INDIVIDUALS, BUSINESSES AND SOCIETIES. YET, WE ALSO ADVOCATE GREATER AWARENESS OF THE POTENTIAL DANGERS THAT I.C.T CAN POSE IF USED INAPPROPRIATELY.

9. INDEED, UNTIL MUCH RECENTLY, NOT MUCH ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID TO THE POTENTIAL THREATS THAT THESE TECHNOLOGIES MAY ALSO BRING. SADLY, THE KIND OF THREATS THAT WERE ONCE THE EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN OF THE REAL WORLD ARE CREEPING THEIR WAY INTO THE CYBER WORLD.

10. JUST AS THERE ARE MALICIOUS INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS BENT ON CAUSING HARM TO SOCIETIES AND NATIONS IN THE REAL WORLD, GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD MUST PREPARE TO DEAL WITH SIMILAR THREATS IN CYBER- SPACE.

11. THE EXTENT OF HARM AND DAMAGE THAT THESE CYBER-THREATS CAN POSE TO OUR SOCIETIES AND NATIONS SHOULD NEVER BE UNDERESTIMATED. ANY VULNERABILITY CAN EASILY BE EXPLOITED TO BRING ABOUT TRULY CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

12. THE SPECTRE OF CYBER THREATS IS STARKLY DIFFERENT FROM COMMON INTERNET CRIMES LIKE IDENTITY THEFT AND MONEY FRAUD. CYBER THREATS CAN INVOLVE THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO DIVERT OR DESTROY SYSTEMS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, CAUSING INJURY OR DEATH AND EVEN UNDERMINING ECONOMIES AND INSTITUTIONS.

13. IT IS FRIGHTENING TO IMAGINE THE POSSIBLE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC TOLL IF THE COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT CONTROL TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, EMERGENCY SERVICES, NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS OR MAJOR DAMS WERE TO BE BROUGHT DOWN OR THROWN INTO DISARRAY BY PERPETRATORS IN CYBERSPACE.

14. EVEN IF ONE IS TO DISCOUNT THE RISK OF HUMAN CASUALTIES, THE ECONOMIC LOSS THAT CAN BE CAUSED BY A CYBER DISRUPTION OR ATTACK SHOULD BE REASON ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENTS TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE. A CYBER DISRUPTION THAT CAUSES A NATION-WIDE BLACKOUT OR THE COLLAPSE OF FINANCIAL TRADING SYSTEMS CAN UNDERMINE EVEN THE STRONGEST OF ECONOMIES.

15. TO ADD TO THE COMPLEXITY, A CYBER DISRUPTION CAN BE PLANNED AND EXECUTED FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD – WITHOUT THE PERPETRATORS NEEDING TO SET FOOT IN THE TARGET COUNTRY.

16. IRONICALLY, THE MORE WIRED A COUNTRY IS, THE MORE VULNERABLE IT IS TO MASSIVE HARM. LAST YEAR, IN SMALL BUT HIGHLY-WIRED ESTONIA, A THREE-WEEK WAVE OF SIGNALS FROM OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY SHUT DOWN THE COUNTRY'S WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, DISRUPTED ITS BANKING SYSTEM, ATTACKED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND THREATENED LASTING HARM, WITH NEITHER WARNING NOR EXPLANATION.

17. IT IS THEREFORE CLEAR TO ME – AND I AM SURE TO EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM, THAT THESE CYBER-THREATS ARE NOT SOMETHING THAT MODERN SOCIETIES AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS CAN IGNORE.

18. SINCE THE INTERNET KNOWS NO NATIONAL BOUNDARIES, NO COUNTRY, ACTING ALONE, CAN ADEQUATELY PROTECT ITSELF FROM CYBER-THREATS. TO EFFECTIVELY OVERCOME THIS GLOBAL THREAT, IT IS NECESSARY FOR GOVERNMENTS AND COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO WORK IN CONCERT.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

19. JUST OVER 2 YEARS AGO, AT THE CLOSE OF THE ‘15TH WORLD CONGRESS ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’ IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, I ANNOUNCED MALAYSIA’S INTENTION TO ESTABLISH IMPACT. THIS ENTITY IS ENVISIONED AS A PIONEER MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PLATFORM TO ALLOW GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD TO EXCHANGE EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS, AS WELL AS TO FACILITATE THE SHARING OF SKILLS AND BEST PRACTICES TO SAFEGUARD CYBERSPACE.

20. FROM THE VERY START, WE ENVISIONED IMPACT AS A PARTNERSHIP – NOT ONLY BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS, BUT ALSO BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD AND THE INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE SECTOR. IMPACT IS DEDICATED TO BRINGING TOGETHER GOVERNMENTS, INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA TO COLLECTIVELY ENHANCE THE CAPABILITY OF THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO CYBER THREATS.

21. WE RECOGNISE THAT SOME OF THE BEST SKILLS AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE AREA OF CYBER-SECURITY RESIDE OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT HANDS – WITHIN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, LEADING RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS AND ACADEMIA. IN ORDER FOR GOVERNMENTS TO EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH THIS COMPLEX AND CONSTANTLY EVOLVING THREAT, IT IS ONLY NATURAL THAT PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES, RESEARCHERS AND ACADEMIA BE MADE PARTNERS IN THIS INITIATIVE.

22. TODAY, WITHIN IMPACT’S LIST OF PARTNERS, WE FIND SOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST AND MOST RESPECTED CYBER SECURITY COMPANIES; THE LIKES OF ‘F-SECURE’, ‘KASPERSKY LABS’, ‘SYMANTEC CORPORATION’, ‘TREND MICRO’ AND MANY OTHERS. MAJOR SOFTWARE COMPANIES LIKE ‘MICROSOFT’ AND HARDWARE MAKERS, LIKE ‘CISCO’, HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN SUPPORTING IMPACT.

23. TO GUIDE THE ACTIVITIES AND DIRECTION OF IMPACT, A HIGH-LEVEL INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD (‘I.A.B.’) HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. IMPACT’S NINE-MEMBER INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD COMPRISES SOME OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED AND WELL-KNOWN PERSONALITIES IN THE CYBER-SECURITY REALM HAILING FROM INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA. I AM HONOURED TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE THE CHAIRMAN OF THIS EMINENT BOARD AND I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR FIRST MEETING LATER TODAY.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

24. AS PROOF OF MALAYSIA’S COMMITMENT TOWARDS IMPACT, MY GOVERNMENT HAS APPROVED AND DISBURSED A 13 MILLION U.S. DOLLAR GRANT TO KICK-OFF IMPACT. MORE THAN HALF OF THIS INITIAL FUNDING IS BEING UTILISED BY IMPACT TO BUILD ITS SECRETARIAT IN MALAYSIA’S HIGH-TECH CITY OF CYBERJAYA – THE HEART OF M.S.C. MALAYSIA.

25. THE SECRETARIAT IS BEING BUILT ON A FAST-TRACK BASIS AND IS DUE FOR COMPLETION BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. INCLUDED IN THE FACILITIES ARE A STATE-OF-THE-ART GLOBAL RESPONSE CENTRE, ULTRA-MODERN TRAINING AND LECTURE FACILITIES, LABS, A RESOURCE CENTRE, MEETING ROOMS AND OFFICES.

26. IMPACT’S PHYSICAL FACILITIES IN CYBERJAYA ARE PURPOSE-DESIGNED TO ALLOW IMPACT TO UNDERTAKE ITS 4 CORE ACTIVITIES, NAMELY:

• FIRSTLY, GLOBAL RESPONSE;
• SECONDLY, POLICY, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION;
• THIRDLY, TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT; AND
• FOURTHLY, SECURITY CERTIFICATION, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT.

27. FOLLOWING FROM THE INITIAL GRANT, I UNDERSTAND THAT IMPACT HAS DEVELOPED 2 CORE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BEEN SPECIALLY BUILT FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL IMPACT MEMBERS. THE FIRST IS THE ‘COLLABORATIVE MULTI-PARTNER EARLY WARNING SYSTEM’. THE SECOND IS IMPACT’S ‘SECURED COLLABORATION PLATFORM’. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT BOTH OF THESE SYSTEMS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THIS SUMMIT.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

28. AS YOU MAY BE AWARE, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS — THE ‘INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION’ (I.T.U.) —WAS GIVEN THE MANDATE TO SET UP A FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AIMED AT ENHANCING CONFIDENCE AND SECURITY IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY.

29. UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF ITS SECRETARY-GENERAL DR. HAMADOUN TOURE, THE I.T.U. RECENTLY LAUNCHED A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK CALLED THE GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY AGENDA (G.C.A.). INCIDENTALLY, THE G.C.A.’S FIVE PILLARS MAP AND FIT PERFECTLY WITH IMPACT’S FOUR FOCUS AREAS – THUS ALLOWING EASE OF COLLABORATION AND CO-OPERATION BETWEEN BOTH INITIATIVES.

30. MR. SECRETARY-GENERAL, IMPACT AND I ARE MOST GRATEFUL TO YOU AND TO THE I.T.U. FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN IMPACT AND THE G.C.A.. IMPACT IS HONOURED TO BE SPECIALLY ACKNOWLEDGED BY YOU AS AN EXEMPLARY MODEL OF INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION, AND A KEY PARTNER IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE G.C.A..

31. IN THE TRUE SPIRIT OF GLOBAL CO-OPERATION, IMPACT IS KEEN TO OFFER ITS FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO FURTHER G.C.A.’S OBJECTIVES AND AGENDA. WE WISH TO THANK THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HIS AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE TO MAKE IMPACT ONE OF THE PHYSICAL HOMES OF THE I.T.U.’S GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY AGENDA.

32. GOING FORWARD, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL TO OTHER NATIONS, AS WELL AS TO IMPACT’S PARTNERS FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND ACADEMIA, TO CONSIDER WAYS FOR THEM TO ASSIST AND CONTRIBUTE TO IMPACT. THESE CONTRIBUTIONS NEED NOT BE FINANCIAL; THEY COULD BE IN TERMS OF EQUIPMENT, EXPERTISE OR PEOPLE - FOR INSTANCE SECONDMENT OF EXPERTS TO IMPACT. YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED AND WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN HELPING TO DEVELOP IMPACT AS A TRULY MEANINGFUL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

33. I BELIEVE THAT TO BE TRULY EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE, ANY APPROACH TO PROTECT CYBER-SPACE MUST BE DONE IN A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER ENVIRONMENT WITH THE FULL, INCLUSIVE AND APPROPRIATE PARTICIPATION OF STAKEHOLDERS SUCH AS GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR, ACADEMIA AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS.

34. KNOWLEDGE-SHARING AND CAPACITY-BUILDING IS ALSO CRITICAL TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO CYBER-THREATS WHICH BEAR UPON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF ANY COUNTRY, COMMUNITY, ORGANISATION OR INDIVIDUAL.

35. I URGE YOU TO APPLY THESE PRINCIPLES IN THE SPIRIT OF COOPERATION, COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION SO THAT TOGETHER, WE WILL BE ABLE TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO CYBER THREATS ON A GLOBAL LEVEL TO PROTECT, PROMOTE AND PRESERVE A SAFE AND SECURE CYBERSPACE FOR ALL.

36. I WOULD ALSO URGE YOU TO USE THE OPPORTUNITY IN THE COMING SESSIONS TO HOLD FRANK AND OPEN DISCUSSIONS. AFTER ALL, IMPACT’S RAISON D'ĘTRE IS TO SERVE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD. AS SUCH, IT IS VITAL FOR EACH OF YOU TO GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOW IMPACT MAY BEST SERVE THE NEEDS OF YOUR COUNTRIES OR ORGANISATIONS. THIS IS CRITICAL SO THAT IMPACT CAN LIVE UP TO ITS MISSION AND DELIVER REAL VALUE TO SOCIETY.

37. INDEED, THE SUCCESS OF IMPACT IS IN OUR COLLECTIVE HANDS — THE SEED HAS BEEN PLANTED AND IT IS UP TO EACH ONE OF US TO ENSURE THAT IMPACT NOT ONLY GROWS, BUT FLOURISHES, SO THAT OUR SHARED VISION FOR IMPACT TO HELP CREATE A MORE SECURE CYBER-SPACE MAY COME TO FULL FRUITION.

38. ON THAT NOTE, IT IS MY GREAT HONOUR AND PLEASURE TO LAUNCH “IMPACT” AND TO DECLARE THE ‘FIRST IMPACT WORLD CYBER SECURITY SUMMIT’ OFFICIALLY OPEN.

THANK YOU.