Cybercrime is an unsettling and damaging economic threat globally, causing financial losses in trillions of dollars. It impacts the operations of several individuals and business victims every second across the globe. It is threatening national security and affecting the trust towards the digital economy and the Internet. Additionally, this experience is a higher-than-average encounter rate in the APAC region for malware and ransomware attacks than in the rest of the world. It is difficult to fight against cybercrime solely, so Microsoft has claimed to launch the first APAC Public Sector Cyber Security Executive Council. It brings together a coalition of policymakers from government and state agencies and technology and industry leaders. They intend to build a vital communications channel for addressing cyber threats and sharing best practices across the participating countries.
They made a significant commitment towards the acceleration of public-private partnerships in Cybersecurity by promoting a broader share of threat intelligence systems to respond in the event of attacks. The council’s vision is to drive to build a community where technology and resources can be shared timely and open. The commission aims to meet virtually every quarter to maintain a continuous exchange of cyber threats and cybersecurity solutions.
During the keynote chat at the Microsoft APAC Public Sector Summit, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, shared his view to empower the nations for a digital society. He explained that the world is now witnessing the second wave of digital transformation over the past year. Governments have hastened their adoption of technology drives to build resilience and transform. He highlighted the need to have an agile digital foundation for the public sector to succeed. They can do that by embracing a data-driven strategy. Lastly, he reinforced the company’s commitments to the national empowerment plans in the new data center regions in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
It is also mission-critical that governments formed unions with leading tech companies to lead effective cyber-defense strategies and safeguard our region against attackers. Because mostly, technology infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies.
As part of the APAC Sector Cyber Security Executive Council, government agencies and state leaders aim to join a forum that includes Microsoft and an ecosystem of cyber industry advisors. The platform focuses on sharing best practices such as Microsoft security certification training, dedicated workshops. It implements hands-on lab sessions to drive improvements to the workforce’s digital skills to reduce the talent gap in Cybersecurity across the participating nations. This effort will build on strengthening cybersecurity partnerships in the Asia-Pacific, including through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Global Forum on Cyber Expertise.