Global orgs discuss a new concept of cybersecurity: Bright internet

By Dain Oh, The Readable
Sep. 7, 2022 11:07PM KST

Leaders of international organizations, enterprises, and universities gathered in Seoul to discuss a new concept of cybersecurity which is called “bright internet.” As a preemptive measure against the skyrocketing number of cyber-attacks, the notion of bright internet urges trusted individuals and corporations to voluntarily get certified and expand secure cyberspace throughout the internet.

Under the theme of a sustainable cyber environment, the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization, the United Nations Global Compact Network Korea, the Bright Internet Consortium, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Chung-Ang University  held a workshop at the Seoul Global Center on Tuesday. Lee Jae-kyu, chairman of the Bright Internet Consortium, introduced the idea of bright internet to the audience.

By focusing on the origin of information, bright internet suggests a new approach toward cybersecurity. It brings trusted parties together, instead of reacting to untrustworthy actors. In this regard, the mechanism of bright internet is compared to that of credit cards, which are based on users’ trust. Credit card users voluntarily certify themselves in order to use cards. The Bright Internet Consortium expects that the same logic can be applied to internet usage.

According to the consortium, bright internet consists of six principles: origin responsibility, deliverer responsibility, identifiable anonymity, global collaborative search, privacy protection, and internet peace. Because bright internet aims to increase the level of sustainability on the internet, it can be interpreted as an ESG approach.

From the ESG investing industry, NH-Amundi Asset Management, Ernst & Young Han Young, SAP, Samsung Electronics, KT, and SK attended the workshop. “ESG investors pursue sustainable growth,” said Choi Yong-hwan, Head of ESG Research Team at NH-Amundi Asset Management. “Recently, the importance of information security has been emphasized among institutional investors. Cybersecurity should be considered to be a part of value chain and impact investing, which includes local societies and environments.”

ohdain@thereadable.co

Dain Oh is an award-winning cybersecurity journalist based in South Korea and the founding editor-in-chief of The Readable by S2W. Before joining S2W, she worked as a reporter for The Electronic Times, the top IT newspaper in Korea, covering the cybersecurity industry on an in-depth level. She reported numerous exclusive stories, and her work related to the National Intelligence Service led to her being honored with the Journalist of the Year Award in 2021 by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology in a unanimous decision. She was also the first journalist to report on the hacking of vulnerable wallpads in South Korean apartments, which later became a nation-wide issue.