Cooperative partnerships

Open collaboration is the key to educating consumers and providing them with effective means to protect their computers, themselves, and their families when online. At the most basic level, therefore, partnerships should work to increase the level of trust that consumers have in their computing environments and demonstrate to consumers that, when it comes to security, their interests come first.

Governments, non-governmental organizations, law enforcement, and industry leaders that participate in cooperative efforts can:

Better identify and address the key challenges that consumers face with regard to computing security and Internet safety.

Effectively heighten consumer awareness of computing security and Internet safety issues and solutions.

Types of collaboration

Collaboration can occur at several levels. For example, software vendors may team up with other software vendors or hardware vendors to build more comprehensive security solutions for consumers. Similarly, hardware vendors may consult software vendors to ensure that their devices are compatible, or come pre-installed with, effective security software.

Technology vendors can also work with the broader industry and law enforcement to make people more aware of how they can protect themselves and take legal action against cyber-criminals. Non-governmental organizations, companies in the technology industry, and governments around the world can help consumers by partnering to identify and create solutions for such issues as malware attacks, spam, phishing, identity theft, and privacy invasion.

Governments that consult advocacy groups and industry leaders can gain valuable insight into current computer and Internet security usage, behaviors, and trends, as well as evolving threats and available or upcoming solutions. This type of collaboration can help inform public policy and result in broad consumer computing security education and outreach supported at the government level. It can also result in new programs or services that help consumers of all ages use technology more safely and securely. For private sector companies, collaborating with governments and non-governmental organizations can inform product development and improve understanding of social issues and existing regulations.

Another powerful way to collaborate is to share best practices. Sharing proven methods related both to teaching parents how to help their children use the Internet more safely and to implementing effective, enforceable public policy can result in a more safe and secure computer experience for the consumer. For example, software developers that share and adopt best practices related to secure product design and development can use those practices to create more secure software and, in turn, foster a more secure technology ecosystem for consumers.

Conclusion

In our efforts to make the Internet safer for everyone, we need to realize that one organization cannot do it alone. Partnership and collaboration are invaluable in the fight to protect consumers from online and technology-related threats. Only by working together can we truly help reduce the threat of online threats and ensure that customers have the right tools, resources, and guidance to help them protect themselves from these threats.