To make the world a more cyber-secure place for everyone, we always have been working together with organizations within our industry and beyond. Collaboration between academia and industry is a very important aspect of our approach to cyber security. We expanded our cybersecurity partnership in 2018 with the addition of Cybersecurity Tech Accord to our partner network. A big mile stone for the organization is that they reached in 2021 over 150 members worldwide.
By joining the organization, G DATA committed itself to put the protection of all customers and users in the foreground and to refrain from cyber attacks on citizens and companies. This has been our policy for more than 30 years and we are pleased to be able to renew this promise on an international scale. For us, this also includes comprehensive cooperation with other IT security companies. This has been common practice in the antivirus industry for many years.
Cybersecurity Tech Accord objectives
Through a shared commitment and collective action, signatories of the Cyber Tech Accord aim to more effectively:
Provide their customers, users and the developer ecosystem with information and tools that enable them to understand current and future threats and better protect themselves.
Protect their customers and users everywhere by designing, developing and delivering products and services that prioritize security, privacy, integrity and reliability, and in turn reduce the likelihood, frequency, exploitability and severity of vulnerabilities.
Work with each other and likeminded groups to enhance cybersecurity best practices, such as improving technical collaboration, coordinated vulnerability disclosure and threat sharing, as well as ensuring flexible responses for the wider global technology ecosystem.
Oppose efforts to attack citizens and enterprises by protecting against exploitation of technology products and services during their development, design, distribution and use.
G DATA actually is actively participating in every aspect from the beginning as it was indeed part of our G DATA policies in the past 30 years.
Several security side aspects
As there are already several security side aspects very well highlighted on their site like cyber hygiene, IOT security where all members are participating in there seems to be another aspect which really became another Cyber Tech Accord mile stone in 2021. The Cybersecurity Tech Accord’s first principle commits its signatories to design, develop, and deliver products and services that prioritize security, privacy, integrity and reliability. In upholding this principle the group has, from its outset, promoted the adoption of vulnerability disclosure policies by companies throughout the technology industry. In 2019, the Cyber Tech Accord went a step further and committed to having every Cybersecurity Tech Accord signatory work towards having their own vulnerability disclosure policy in place to better protect users and customers. In 2021 over 100 companies created a vulnerability disclosure policy and page on their website.
G DATA’s vulnerability disclosure page
Needless to say that we also developed a vulnerability disclosure policy and page on our website. You can find the English version here and the German version here.
Companies in the technology world develop and implement this policy for resolving known vulnerabilities to keep users and customers safe. Vulnerability disclosure policies are vital because they are at the heart of a collaborative approach to cyber security. No organization can meet cyber security challenges alone, so sharing and accepting information is critical to improving our cyber security measures. Vulnerability disclosure policies create a pathway for organizations or individuals to report vulnerabilities to the relevant entity. And above all, this reporting initiates a process that ensures the vulnerability is addressed and any risks or potential harm to users can be efficiently mitigated. Cyber Security Tech Accord is very proud of the increased adoption of the CVD (Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure) Policies at it demonstrates the commitment to one of their principles.
A safer online world
As a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, we’re demonstrating our commitment to strengthen cybersecurity and sharing the best practices we’ve developed on how to act securely and to stay safe online. An increasingly connected world needs trusted environments. A system however is only as secure as its weakest link and unfortunately that is mostly the human factor. It’s good to see that with our Security Awareness trainings the awareness of users is really improving. By working together with the Cybersecurity Tech Accord for the next years I’m pretty sure that there will be improvement in both the technical as well as on the human side for the coming years worldwide. And I’m also sure it will finally help to create a safer online world.
