A new report from the International Bar Association (IBA) Presidential Task Force on Cybersecurity and the IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit (LPRU) provides a first-of-its-kind global perspective on key governance practices for senior managers and boards of directors to protect their organizations against cyber-attacks. Titled “Global perspectives on protecting against cyber risks: best governance practices for senior executives and boards of directors”, the report provides an insight into existing cybersecurity threats and outlines actionable steps that companies can take to strengthen their cyber risk governance.

The report draws on sources across ten jurisdictions — Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, India, Israel, Singapore, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States — to provide comparative analysis with diverse international case studies.

As the IBA notes, with the rise of 5G networks, quantum computing and devices linked to the Internet of Things, cybersecurity is fast evolving into a primary concern for society at large. Regulatory bodies have begun developing legal guidelines and standards in response to the increase in cyber-attacks. However, simply abiding by such regulations no longer secures companies, rather company leaders must proactively establish security frameworks and strategies.

The new IBA report acknowledges the shared accountability between senior management and boards of directors to tackle cybersecurity risks and provides 17 recommendations to both parties, including:

• understand the cyber risk profile of the organization;
• ensure the board and management have sufficient cybersecurity expertise;
• ensure appropriate reporting lines so that cyber risks are raised to leadership;
• invest sufficient funds to meet cybersecurity goals;
• review, understand and test the organization’s cyber incident response plans.

You can find more information about the report here.

The report itself can be found at this link.