FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Larry Clinton
President and CEO, Internet Security Alliance
(202) 236-0001
lclinton@isalliance.org
The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) will unveil Friday a new cyber-risk oversight handbook for Latin American corporate boards of directors during the OAS Cybersecurity Symposium this week in Santiago, Chile. ISA President Larry Clinton will offer a keynote address to conclude the 4-day event.
“The Latin American region has seen tremendous economic growth from adopting innovative technology in the past few years. However, a lack of attention on cybersecurity has led to massive growth in cybercrime throughout the region,” said Clinton “Brazil, Argentina and Mexico are at the top of the list of countries originating cyber-attacks. Ransomware attacks alone are going up more than 100 percent a year in the region. At the same time, the OAS research determined that Latin American boards had only a ‘formative knowledge’ of cybersecurity.”
As a result, at the urging of the World Economic Forum, the ISA and OAS joined together in May 2018 to launch a program to educate Latin American boards on how they can better address the cyber threats, which threaten the long-term economic viability of the region.
To create the program, the ISA and OAS collaborated on several in-region workshops with Latin American board members, government officials, and academics. More than 700 regional experts from 15 different Latin American countries were engaged in the workshops and in the 11 international webinars ISA conducted as part of the project.
This first product that this effort has produced is an adapted version of the Cyber-Risk Oversight Handbook for Corporate Boards based on the model the ISA has created for the U.S. National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). The Global Information Security Survey conducted annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has found that the use of this handbook resulted in improved cyber risk management, better alignment of cybersecurity with overall business goals and helping to create a culture of security.
“We took the successful NACD model, and, based on our extensive in-region research, adapted it to the unique needs and culture of Latin America,” said Clinton. “This includes addressing the unique roles families play on corporate boards in the region as well as the emergence of new privacy rules and regulations and the growth of the Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) the governments are sponsoring. We also had to address the need to build trust among industry and between industry and government to create a unified effort to push back against the criminals. I want to thank and congratulate the OAS for their vision and leadership in engaging in this much needed effort,” said Clinton.
The handbook will be made available free of charge on the ISA website at www.isalliance.org.
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.
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