Finally, we urge states to take a holistic approach to supply chain risk
management, working to help all stakeholders mitigate risks to security and integrity
not just at the procurement stage but also through strong internal controls, such as
those related to configuration management, segregation of duties, change
management, and access management. Moreover, given that supply chains regularly
span multiple countries states should actively promote and encourage other states in
securing their parts of the supply chain. This could be done by regular state-to-state
dialogues but also by encouraging information exchange and capacity building in the
private sector.
(j) States should
encourage responsible
reporting of ICT
vulnerabilities and
share associated
information on
available remedies to
such vulnerabilities to
limit and possibly
eliminate potential
threats to ICTs and ICTdependent
infrastructure;
Australian
Strategic
Policy
Institute,
International
Cyber Policy
Centre
Global
Partners
Digital
Implementation of norms are demonstrated by states’ actions, capabilities, and
strategic policy direction. As this norm deals with States’ efforts to encourage
responsible reporting of ICT vulnerabilities, examples of implementation include:
-
States acknowledge and endorse public vulnerability reporting policies for, and
by, government and non-governmental organisations
-
States accept the practice of legitimate bug bounty programmes engaging
private sectors, cyber security industry and security researchers
-
States establish a vulnerability equities processes that guides decision-making
by their sovereign cyber capabilities
-
States endorse relevant ISO standards and, for instance, the GFCE global good
practises on CVD.
-
States provide adequate legal provisions to support, encourage and protect
responsible reporters.
-
States organise hacking sessions, like Indonesia’s “Everybody can hack” or the
US’ “Hack the Pentagon” competition.
Responsible reporting of ICT vulnerabilities, which in some cases have been the
main mechanism for conducting cyber operations, is essential for maintaining a
peaceful and secure cyberspace. As the use of shared ICT systems, including as a
result of the spread of connected devices, continues, the existence of ICT
vulnerabilities and the need to address them in a timely manner grows in urgency.
Due to the varied equities and responsibilities of stakeholders with regards to
vulnerability reporting,liv states should recognise and institute disclosure processes
that recognise that vulnerability reporting is a multistakeholder effort and thus
engage all stakeholders in both the development and implementation of
vulnerability disclosure processes.
States should make public the criteria and processes used in determining
whether the government discloses a vulnerability they have discoveredlv and should
codify government disclosure processes into law to ensure compliance.lvi
In addition, states should set up coordinated vulnerability disclosure
processes,lvii to engage all stakeholders in vulnerability reporting, in accordance with
the guidelines and recommendations defined in ISO/IEC 29147:2014 and ISO/IEC
3011.lviii
In particular, best practice guidance highlights the importance of both
protecting and incentivising the work of security researchers. To this end, national
legislation should be amended to protect security researchers and provide them with
legal certainty in reporting vulnerabilities.lix
Complementary best practice programmes which states can promote to raise
awareness of the importance of disclosure and to incentivise disclosure of
vulnerabilities include the promotion of “safe harbor policies”,lx and “bug bounty
programmes”.lxi States should also fund defensive vulnerability discovery and
research and invest in building security researcher communities.
ICRC &
Australian
Red Cross
The preferred option for enhancing the safety of cyber space should be
disclosing vulnerabilities to the appropriate software developer or vendor so that the
vulnerabilities can be fixed.lxii In this regard, we welcome the fact that the Australian
Signals Directorate (ASD) has adopted Responsible Release Principles for Cyber
@DFAT DFAT.GOV.AU
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