Press Release
The CyberPeace Institute and GCA Partner to Advance Digital Safety and Support Vulnerable Communities
Brussels, 22 May 2023. The CyberPeace Institute and the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today. This agreement constitutes a significant step in bringing together nonprofit organisations focused on strengthening the cybersecurity of key stakeholders around the globe. GCA’s leadership in establishing communities to address complex cybersecurity challenges, together with its development of easily accessible cybersecurity tools and solutions, complement CyberPeace Institute’s leadership in understanding and assisting nonprofit organisations around the world who are targeted by malicious cyber activity.
To defend our society against cyber threats, collaboration is imperative. Together, GCA and CyberPeace Institute are committed to simplifying underserved communities’ access to and adoption of effective cybersecurity solutions.
Both organisations have engaged in Nonprofit Cyber, a first-of-its-kind coalition of global nonprofit organisations to enhance joint action to share resources and improve cybersecurity. Via the GCA Mission-based Organization Toolkit and the CyberPeace Builders initiatives, the two organisations are already providing key support to vulnerable communities.
Future efforts will entail working even more closely together within Cyber Civil Defense (CCD), an initiative launched by Craig Newmark Philanthropies in the US, to establish a whole-of-society effort around cybersecurity. GCA has been a partner in building CCD since its inception and is supporting its international expansion. Within CCD’s framework GCA has recently created the Accessible Cybersecurity Tools (ACT) project to empower individuals and underserved communities to find the right cybersecurity solutions for their protection needs. The CyberPeace Institute can contribute to CCD as a lead expert on targeted communities (including NGOs), and the two organisations provide a uniquely enhanced capability to enact and scale cyber defence locally, regionally, and internationally.
Stéphane Duguin, CEO of the CyberPeace Institute (in the image, on the left) shared the following: “In a time where cyber threats are hybrid, and where people are facing attacks from both State Actors and criminal groups, response is about hands-on partnerships. GCA and CyberPeace Institute capabilities ensure that vulnerable communities get what they urgently need : tools, talents, training, analysis of cyberattacks, and a common vision for peace and justice in cyberspace.”
Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of GCA (in the image, on the right), said: “We are proud to strengthen our collaboration with the CyberPeace Institute at a pivotal moment as cyber threats against vulnerable communities continue to rise. A trustworthy Internet is a shared, universal challenge that reaches beyond borders and connects us all. The CyberPeace Institute is a like-minded independent NGO that helps ensure the rights of people to security, dignity, and equity in cyberspace. The current level of challenges we face will surely push us all to even greater collaboration.“
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About the CyberPeace Institute
The CyberPeace Institute is an investigation organisation, documenting and analysing the human impact of systemic cyber threats, delivering free cybersecurity to the most vulnerable, and advocating for the enforcement of international laws and norms in cyberspace.
About the Global Cyber Alliance
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to eradicating cyber risk and improving our connected world. At GCA we build programs, partnerships, and tools to make the connected world safer and more secure for all.
