The BRICS countries are collaborating in fighting cyber-attacks and ensuring security. They are creating a register of contact points for the exchange of information. A meeting has been held in Moscow to discuss security issues and involved the new members to join the alliance.The Russian Foreign Ministry says it notes the various nations positive response to Russian proposals to strengthen the regulatory and legal framework for co-operation between the BRICS countries.
The participants of the event agreed to jointly promote these principles at the United Nations. The event in Moscow was opened by Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Delegations from Egypt, Iran, the UAE and Ethiopia took part in the meeting for the first time. Cyber attacks have become a global issue. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently experienced a cyber-attack, in which local IT infrastructure Copenhagen was targeted.
On March 27, UNDP received a threat intelligence notification that a data-extortion actor had stolen data which included certain human resources and procurement information. Action was immediately taken to identify a potential source and contain the affected server as well as to determine the specifics of the exposed data and who was impacted. It’s not known if arrests were made.
The International Monetary Fund says cyberattacks have more than doubled since the Corona Virus pandemic. While companies have historically suffered relatively modest direct losses from cyberattacks, some have experienced a much heavier toll. US credit reporting agency Equifax, for example, paid more than $1 billion in penalties after a major data breach in 2017 that affected about 150 million consumers.
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