The Dynamic Coalition on Internet Standards, Security and Safety (DC-ISSS) brings together key stakeholders from the technical community, civil society, government policymakers, regulators, and corporate and individual adopters, with the shared goal of making online activity and interaction more secure and safer by achieving more widespread and rapid deployment of existing Internet standards and ICT best practices.
Internet and ICT security is an issue that is high on the agenda of governments, industry and individuals alike. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the rapid increase in society’s dependency on the Internet, communications technologies and networks, the interconnectivity of devices, and the vast array of online services, networks and applications that permeate all social and economic sectors, and on which every aspect of daily life, including our health and financial welfare, increasingly rely.
It is also widely recognised that many Internet-related products and services are increasingly vulnerable to security threats and the spread of online harms and criminal misuse. However, if relevant security-related standards and best practices are more effectively adopted and deployed worldwide, these risk can be reduced significantly. This will foster greater trust in the Internet and its related digital technologies and applications and the positive social and economic benefits of these transformative technologies for sustainable development will be fully realised for communities worldwide.
The DC-ISSS aims to ensure that standards and best practices play their full role in addressing these cybersecurity challenges through establishing the conditions for their wider, more effective and more rapid adoption by key decision-takers throughout the standards implementation chain in both the public and private sectors.
This can be achieved only if there is a shared commitment by stakeholders worldwide in a new comprehensive and strategic approach.
The DC-ISSS has established a work programme that i) brings the critical security supply and demand factors together; and ii) proposes the best options for the deployment of key standards and best practices on both sides, in the form of policy recommendations and practical guidance. These outcomes will be presented as IGF policy recommendations for dissemination to policymakers and decision-takers worldwide.
Establishment of DC-ISSS working groups in the first phase of its workplan.
Following the launch of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Standards, Security and Safety at the IGF in 2020, three working groups were established.
The DC-ISSS membership agreed that promoting security by design should be a key objective for the coalition and it was decided to focus in the first phase of its work on security by design of the Internet of Things (IoT). Other security by design topics would be selected following the conclusion of the working group’s proposals relating to IoT.
Research has confirmed that there is a large gap between the theory of security and the daily practice of IoT security. The working group is focussed on identifying the solutions needed to close this gap. The first results will be reviewed and published after the 2021 IGF in an open process of consultation with stakeholders worldwide.
Sub-group on Internet of Things – Mission Statement | June 2021
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A major factor undermining the development of a common culture of cybersecurity is that students graduating from tertiary ICT-related educational programmes often lack the skills that business and society as a whole need in order to understand the benefits of security-related Internet standards and ICT best practices. In order for ICT security to be better understood, it has to be integrated into tertiary ICT educational curricula, at all levels. This may result in the structural development of ICT(-related) products and services that include cyber security Internet standards and ICT best practices. The coalition’s Working Group 2 has therefore the following goals:
WG 2 Mission Statement | June 2021
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The focus of the third DC-ISSS working group is the opportunity to promote the business case for cybersecurity through the inclusion of security-related technical standards in public sector procurement contracts and in supply chain management practice in the private sector. Research has shown that this would be a major driver for the adoption and implementation of security-related standards. Organisations , governments, industry and business users generally can demand secure by design ICT-related products and services by stipulating requirements in their contracts for specific standards and adherence to current best practices.
WG 3 Mission Statement | June 2021
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The three DC-ISSS working groups are currently defining research proposals that will be published on the DC-ISSS website and it is expected that the research programmes will conclude in early 2022.
The timeline for the next phase of the coalition’s work is as follows:
November 2021
December 2021
January 2022
February-May 2022
June 2022
September 2022
November/December 2022
January 2023
It is possible to establish new DC-ISSS working groups on the additional issues (new or mentioned below) relating to the adoption of security-related standards following stakeholder consultations during and following IGF 2021 in Katowice. Those interested in constituting a new working group can contact the DC-ISSS’ leadership.
Identified policy issues for the Dynamic Coalition
The following topics have been identified for research at the start of the DC-ISSS but have not been taken up.
To contact the group, please write to: [email protected]
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TBC
Wout de Natris
[email protected]
Mark Carvell
[email protected]
United Nations
Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
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Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
igf [at] un [dot] org
+41 (0) 229 173 411