It is 14 years after the Al Qaida terror attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, 13 years after possibly the worst single terror attack at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel and 9 years after the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India where a series of coordinated terrorist events where carried out by 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organization based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai.
It is closing on 15 years since the world awoke to mass carnage via terror and the influence of the media and more so the social media. Today everyone lives the events that take place continents away in a live scenario.
The world remains at war, each with a different adversary who are committed to destroying each-others people, ways of life and freedom only today the borders are no longer visible, no longer relevant and each and every human being is vulnerable to a terror attack not only in the form of a vehicle ramming attack as seen in Europe recently or a stabbing or suicide bombing attack but by a simple click of a button in the form of a Cyber Attack.
In the midst of global conflicts, we all face the dual challenges of preventing terrorist attacks in any manner and any form, be it cyber carnage or physical destruction. In leveraging all possible resources to meet these obligations leaders must make demands on their peers and engage in more innovational multinational efforts of cooperation in the cyber intelligence sphere.
In strengthening overall homeland security through cooperation between industry, foreign partnerships and initiatives, we all must be committed to expanding and increasing our layers of defense, which extend well beyond our different borders, by seeking further cooperation with our international partners.
On the eve of a confirmed historical visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel who will be arriving in early July 2017 and the fact that Israel is already amongst the top military hardware suppliers to India, with more than $1 billion in annual sales to New Delhi according to a media report, Prime Minister Modi will surely discuss both technological cooperation and indeed the threats and vulnerabilities that lie in the stealth but intriguing world of Cyber and the intelligence it produces.
As the free world tries to secure their Homelands, we cannot simply rely on defensive approaches and well-planned response and recovery measures. It must be recognized and agreed that our combined efforts also must involve self –defensive methods in all aspects of the term. By deploying passive methods, policies and strategies against aggressors and offenders the criminals or enemy’s plans cannot be disrupted.
The impact of future disasters through measures that enhance the resilience of economies and critical infrastructure before an incident occurs must be thwarted predictably and proactively.
Authored by : Marc Kahlberg, CEO and MD, Vital Intelligence Group
