CSIS Launches Multilateral Cyber Action Committee

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2021: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce the formation and launch of the Multilateral Cyber Action Committee (MCAC), a multilateral group of former senior government and business leaders from the United States, Europe, and Japan with high-level, sustained national security and cybersecurity responsibilities and expertise. The MCAC will call attention to critical cybersecurity issues meriting the attention of both governments and businesses, recommend actions for public and private sector actors in both domestic and international contexts, and translate aspirational calls for norms and policies in cyberspace into concrete applications.

“The recent failures of cybersecurity systems demonstrate the urgent need for sustained action,” said CSIS president and CEO John J. Hamre. “CSIS is bringing this group together to produce informed and practical recommendations on today’s major cyber issues.”

The MCAC will host a launch event on Wednesday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. ET, featuring the perspectives on current cyber challenges of three major leaders: Admiral Dennis Blair, former U.S. director of national intelligence; Secretary Michael Chertoff, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Arthur Coviello, former president and CEO of RSA Security.

The digital and online world continues to evolve faster than governments can keep pace with. The rapid growth of information technology offers tremendous potential for improving prosperity and quality of life around the world but continues to generate growing risks of damage to countries, companies, and individuals. Digital transformation will only continue to accelerate, spurred on by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, transforming the degree to which we rely on digital resources to conduct business and our personal lives. Simultaneously, the increase in geopolitical tensions has generated trade and data security issues, complicating the conduct of global business. These trends bring to the forefront the need for international cooperation, actionable recommendations, and the critical need for public-private partnership in cyberspace.

Many like-minded countries are taking individual initiatives to further a safer, more secure cyberspace. Some of these initiatives are internal, and some countries are cooperating on an ad hoc basis. But there is not enough international cooperation between private and public stakeholders regarding cyberspace. The MCAC strives to take steps to rectify the gap in global cooperation in the digital domain. 

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.