'Who dunnit?': OSCE Chairmanship event in Vienna tackles issue of attribution in cyber-attacks

VIENNA, 4 November 2016 – Some 100 representatives from governments  as well as from academia and the business sector, including security software developers, from across the OSCE region gathered in Vienna today for the Cyber Showcase Event of the German OSCE Chairmanship – this year focusing on the issue of attribution.

Cyber attacks are an ever evolving security challenge and have the potential to disrupt the lives and livelihoods of people, societies and business around the globe. Given the rapidly changing nature of this phenomenon, it can be difficult to establish fact from fiction, particularly in attribution and in identifying the culprits behind an attack.

Today’s event organized by Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship attempts to draw conclusions on how much scope there is for building “impartial” verification into the work of the OSCE dedicated to Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) in cyber / Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Such measures are designed to reduce the risks of tension stemming from the use of ICTs between States.

In his opening remarks Germany’s OSCE Ambassador and Chairperson of the Permanent Council Eberhard Pohl said: “Advancing cyber security is a matter of priority during our OSCE Chairmanship. Tackling the attribution challenge in cyberspace is one of the core issues. The cyber showcase event offers a forum for an outcome-oriented discussion between stakeholders from different backgrounds.”

During the course of the event, participants will continue the theme of making cyberspace more predictable and finding ways of addressing potential misunderstandings related to the use of ICTs. Specifically, the University of Florence will present its research project on the challenges OSCE participating States face with implementing the Cyber/ICT security CBMs.

The event builds on a process which has since 2013 seen OSCE participating States adopt two sets of CBMs in this field, focusing on raising transparency and enhancing co-operation between States.