Nov 17, 2003

Outlines Collaborative Government-Private Sector Imperatives for Worldwide Cyber Security

17 Nov 2003

BRUSSELS - Entrust, Inc. [NASDAQ: ENTU] CEO, chairman and president Bill Conner today addressed an EastWest Institute international security forum, outlining a number of collaborative information security initiatives for governments and industry that are necessary to combat the growing threats of terrorism and cyber warfare. 

Towards Worldwide Security - Building the Transatlantic Agenda is an EastWest Institute initiative to address new worldwide security threats.  The international conference was launched to examine the different threat perceptions and approaches of the United States, Europe and Russia, and to build consensus for a global agenda that promotes international cooperation on worldwide security. 

Conner, a leading information security expert and industry executive, highlighted the significance of the forum's attendance by both global business executives and senior public officials, noting that industries and governments must work in partnership to adequately address threats to civilian and commercial infrastructures.

"Today's unconventional threats have transformed the calculus that previously defined worldwide security," said Conner.  "Because the frontlines of battle have largely shifted to anonymous assaults on, or via, our critical infrastructures and information systems, governments can no longer bear sole responsibility for the protection of our citizens and societies."

"From energy and telecommunications to financial services and transportation, the private sector now plays a dual role as guardian of the world's critical infrastructure as well as global commerce.  To address these new realities, governments and industries must establish a new level of cooperation and look beyond conventional applications to meet their shared security and economic objectives.  And this can only be accomplished through the implementation of strong cyber security technologies and governance frameworks to manage the integrity of these systems both in times of crisis and normalcy," continued Conner. 

Other keynote speakers and panelists at the Forum included Sir Michael Howard, President Emeritus, International Institute of Strategic Studies; Donald Johnston, Secretary General, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); John Edwin Mroz, President and Founder, EastWest Institute; Sergey Ordzhonikidze, Under Secretary General and Director General, United Nations; Jamie Shea, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for External Relations, NATO; Antonio Vitorino, European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs; Ted Whiteside, Head of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Centre, NATO; and more.

About the EastWest Institute (www.iews.org)
EWI is an independent, not-for-profit, international institution working to address the most dangerous fault lines of the 21st Century and to help build fair, prosperous and peaceful civil societies in those areas.  Since 1981, EWI operates long-term projects that create trust and understanding and seek to reduce tensions from Eurasia to the trans-Atlantic region using a unique network of private and public sector leaders in more than 40 nations. EWI's initial mission was devoted to reducing the hostilities of the Cold War.