Brussels, Belgium – Today the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) and The European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) announced a partnership to develop a handbook on cyber-risk management for European corporate boards of directors.
“No company is immune to the threat of cyber attack. Therefore, we at ecoDa together with ISA are developing a European culture of cybersecurity and invite board members to define appropriate crisis management procedures. European Boards have to be familiar with the concept of integrated defense. They should avoid responding to cyber attacks in a piecemeal way”, said Béatrice Richez-Baum, Director General at ecoDa.
The new handbook, which will be co-branded by ISA, AIG and ecoDa, will be based on the Cyber Risk Handbooks ISA has previously developed for the US National Association of Corporate Directors and adapted versions created for the United Kingdom and Germany and Latin America. ISA, AIG and ecoDa have already begun the work on the pan-European version of the Cyber Risk Handbook with the expectation that the work will be published later in 2019.
“The ISA is enthused to work with ecoDa to help expand sophisticated cyber risk governance,” said Larry Clinton, ISA’s President. “Through the multiple workshops and webinars, we have done with corporate directors globally we have found that there are several core principles of cyber risk governance that seem to translate quite well across national boundaries.”
“However there are a number of adaptations that need to be done to address the unique cultural, legal, and business differences in various environments. Working with the ecoDa community we will identify these differences and weave them into an emerging global framework of cyber risk governance that can be practiced at the highest levels of industry,” said Clinton.
The US handbooks have been endorsed by the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice and the German edition was a co-production with the German government’s Federal Office for Information Security, known as BSI. Pricewaterhouse Coopers has also evaluated the previous handbooks and determined that their use improved cybersecurity budgeting, risk management, alignment of business goals with cyber security and helped create a culture of security within the enterprises that use them.
ecoDa is the leading authority on board governance in Europe—representing 55,000 European board directors through its member organizations. ecoDa’s member organizations represent board directors – including large listed companies as well as small firms – from across Europe. ecoDa’s mission is to promote the role of directors and governance, to influence European decision-making, and to provide services to its member organizations. ecoDa also works to facilitate the creation and development of national director institutes.
ISA is a multi-sector trade association with the mission of integrating advanced technology with economics and public policy to help create a sustainable system of cyber security. ISA works collaboratively with both private sector partners like NACD, ecoDa and the Center for Audit Quality as well as governments internationally on three goals – thought leadership, developing effective public policy and promoting the use of effective cyber security standards and practices.
About the Internet Security Alliance
About ISA: The Internet Security Alliance (ISA) is a trade association with members from virtually every critical industry sector. ISA’s mission is to integrate advanced technology with economics and public policy to create a sustainable system of cybersecurity. ISA pursues three goals: thought leadership, policy advocacy and promoting sound security practices. ISA’s “Cybersecurity Social Contract” has been embraced as the model for government policy by both Republicans and Democrats. ISA also developed the Cyber Risk Handbook for the National Association of Corporate Directors. For more information about ISA, please visit www.isalliance.org or 703-907-7090.
About the European Confederation of Directors Associations
The European Confederation of Directors Associations (ecoDa) is a not-for-profit association founded in December 2004 under the laws of Belgium. Through its 22 national institutes of directors (the main national institutes existing in Europe), ecoDa represents approximately 55,000 board directors from across the EU. ecoDa’s member organizations represent board directors from the largest public companies to the smallest private firms, both listed and unlisted.