Geneva, Switzerland, 20 April 2021 — In an open letter to private philanthropy, Stéphane Duguin, Chief Executive Officer of the CyberPeace Institute, and more than thirty other professionals from cybersecurity organizations and philanthropic foundations, stress the need for more philanthropic giving in cybersecurity.
The latest data from the Peace and Security Funding Index shows that cyber grants made up less than one percent of the US$ 3.7 billion that Foundations have dedicated to peace and security issues since 2012 (less than .007 percent of total foundation giving). However, Cyber threats have topped the U.S. intelligence community’s annual assessment of global threats for seven years running, and US$ 4.2 billion in financial losses was reported to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2020.
The need for private philanthropy in cybersecurity is growing. Governments and private corporations spend billions of dollars every year on cybersecurity, but they only have the capacity to focus on immediate threats and on strengthening their own networks. Private philanthropy can take a longer view, focusing resources on thinking through the underlying laws, norms, and policies that should govern cybersecurity between people, within individual countries, and among nations.
“Cyberpeace needs philanthropy. Societies around the world are struggling to address pressing cybersecurity issues that have escalated since the COVID-19 pandemic. A peaceful, safe and empowering cyberspace needs long-term but flexible investments. Governments, the private sector, experts and civil society organizations can’t do it alone. Private philanthropic giving is the missing piece in the action needed to make cybersecurity a public good and to ensure cyberpeace for everyone, everywhere,” said Stéphane Duguin, Chief Executive Officer of the CyberPeace Institute.
Show your support for increased philanthropic giving in cybersecurity by using the hashtags #CyberPhilanthropy #ExpandCyberFunding.
The signed letter can be seen at cyberphilanthropy.org.
About us:
The CyberPeace Institute is an international non-profit organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It strives to protect vulnerable populations from the harms of cyberattacks and cyberconflict, to bring information and data about methods into the public realm, with the aim of ensuring responsible behavior and the advancement of international law at corporate and state level. Through field analysis and global campaigning, the institute aims to protect the most vulnerable and to achieve peace and justice in cyberspace.
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