Fighting cyber terrorism

IMPACT, or International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Terrorism, is the first global public-private initiative against cyber terrorism.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has approved a US$13 million grant to lay the foundation of IMPACT, a not-for-profit global organisation, to rally efforts from governments, the private sector, and academia worldwide, against the growing threat of cyber terrorism. IMPACT, or International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Terrorism, is the first global public-private initiative against cyber terrorism. It drives collaboration among governments, industry leaders and cyber security experts to enhance the global community’s capacity to prevent and respond to cyber threats.The start-up grant will be used to construct the IMPACT building in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, and operations are expected to start in December. The fund will also finance the infrastructure for the four centres of IMPACT: the Centre for Training & Skills Development; the Centre for Security Certification, Research & Development; the Centre for Global Response; and, the Centre for Policy, Regulatory Framework & International Co-operation. Currently chaired by the Malaysian PM, the leadership of the International Advisory Board of IMPACT will be handed over to other member countries after the initial three-year term. “From the standpoint of the Malaysian government, their contribution is a gift to the global community. Someone has to start. They feel they’re just giving the seed,” said Mohd Noor Amin, Chairman, Management Board, IMPACT.
Warning SystemIMPACT is currently building two systems for its member countries. One is an early warning system. which will aggregate ‘feeds’ from IMPACT’s security partners and member countries, which will be redistributed across the world to member countries.Another is a collaboration system that, according to Amin, is a secure electronic platform enabling experts from member countries to collaborate with one another based on their specialty and niche areas.