Economy

Geneva, 25 October 2011 – Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso, has been appointed Chairman of the International Advisory Board (IAB) of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), which serves at the executing arm of the ITU in the area of cyber security.
Mr Compaoré takes over from former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who served as founding Chairman of the IAB. The handover ceremony was held today at the ITU Telecom World 2011 event in Geneva, in conjunction with the second IAB meeting.

Malaysia’s tenure of the IAB chairmanship (2008-2011) coincided with period of rapid growth for IMPACT. Today, with 137 Member States formally part of the ITU-IMPACT coalition and with strong support from global industry leaders and partners from academia, ITU-IMPACT has become the largest cybersecurity alliance of its kind in the world.

As Chairman, President Compaoré will guide the activities and direction of the IMPACT IAB. He brings a vast experience in telecommunications and international relations, and will continue to spearhead global efforts to bring governments, industry, academia and international organizations together in the fight against cyber threats.

IAB members currently include:
* Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General
* Steve Chang, Founder & Chairman, Trend Micro
* Ayman Hariri, Chairman, Oger Systems
* Mikko Hypponen, Chief Research Officer, F-Secure
* Eugene Kaspersky, Founder and CEO, Kaspersky Lab
* Professor Fred Piper, Cryptologist, founder of the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway, University of London
* John W. Thompson, Chairman of the Board, Symantec Corporation

“I am delighted to welcome President Compaoré, an active and high-profile advocate of a more global approach to cybersecurity, into the ITU-IMPACT fold. Cybersecurity knows no borders; it is only with a truly coordinated international approach that we will win against the growing tide of malicious hackers and cybercriminals,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

An MoU signed by ITU and IMPACT in May 2011 sees IMPACT provide cybersecurity support and services to ITU Member States and other organizations within the UN system. ITU-IMPACT is the first cooperative global venture of its kind offering cybersecurity expertise and resources to governments and organizations to detect, analyze and respond effectively to cyberthreats. Of particular benefit to developing countries and smaller states without the capacity and resources to develop their own sophisticated cyber response centres, the coalition also benefits technically advanced nations by providing them with a global snapshot of potential and real online threats.