Greg Rattray, Executive Director, and Ian Pelekis, Senior Cyber Risk Analyst at Next Peak helped form and drive the activities Multilateral Cyber Action Committee (MCAC). Recently, the MCAC brought together business and cyber advocacy organizations including the Business Executives for National Security; the Coalition for Midmarket Cyber Excellence; the Cyber Threat Alliance; the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0; and the Institute for Security and Technology to issue a Joint Statement encouraging public private collaboration and support for the JCDC to improve the cybersecurity environment. Secretary Chertoff, Steering Committee Member of the new initiative stated: “The MCAC is a global committee focused on improving cybersecurity for a secure and open internet and wants to pursue deep public private partnership. In the United States, we think the joint statement highlights the successes and the continued need for the JCDC to continue to successfully evolve. We are committed to making that happen.”
A Bloomberg article covered the issuance of the joint statement and the importance of the MCAC in drawing in collaboration from the current U.S. administration. Recent conflict arounds the world require efforts across all sectors to effectively address cybersecurity-related issues such as the Solar Winds supply chain attack, log4J vulnerabilities, ransomware attacks, and threats from Russian and other malicious nation-state actors. Mark Montgomery, Executive Director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0 stated: “The Solarium Commission always posited that effective deterrence in cyberspace is a three-legged stool, relying on investments in defensive capabilities, investments in cost imposition capabilities, and the most challenging – building a public-private collaboration to defend our critical infrastructure. The MCAC is advocating to address this exact national security challenge with its five initiatives.”
To summarize, the signatories have committed to enhancing public-private sector cooperation by building upon and scaling existing initiatives such as the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). Members also want to engage U.S. government partners with ideas and initiatives to strengthen national cyber resilience. A combination of advocacy, promotion and scaling will be necessary to assist both public and private sectors to solidify the impact of collaborative efforts like the JCDC and others. Next Peak was in a unique position to help MCAC align these organizations towards mutual goals and looks forward to helping foster operational collaboration going forward.
