Ambassador George Cristian Maior holds conference at George Washington University on cyber-security

Romania's Ambassador in Washington George Cristian Maior held on Tuesday a conference, on the occasion of the launch of the high level Forum for cyber-security called "International Cybersecurity Leaders Forum," which was organised by the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (CCHS) within the George Washington University, a release of Romania's Embassy to the US informs.

In the debut of the conference, Associate Vice President and Director of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security Frank Cilluffo thanked George Cristian Maior for returning to the George Washington University, where he got his master's degree, in 1992, in International and Comparative Law. Frank Cilluffo congratulated the ambassadors for his activity after graduating the master programme, especially for the period in which he led the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), pointing out that he was also appreciated by the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), namely Mike Pompeo, who decorated George Cristian Maior with the "Earl Warren Medal."

In his speech, Romania's Ambassador presented a detailed assessment on the security environment and cyber threats, including the objectives and actions of stakeholders in the cyber area. Maior mentioned the latest developments in the usage of cyber instruments by terrorist organisations and some states, to promote some political and ideological objectives. The Romanian diplomat underscored the sophisticated level of cyber attacks launched by some states that use intermediaries to mask the source of the attacks and avoid responsibility.

"Currently we are witnessing the emergence of some new vulnerabilities inside states, which can be exploited through a series of scenarios which, although they are not at the level of a military conflict, can still be sufficiently destructive to make the development of additional defense capabilities necessary," Maior said.

Romania's Ambassador also talked about the hybrid war and the fight against disinformation and manipulation of public information, mentioning that one of the main objectives of the hybrid war is to maintain ambiguity regarding the main, long-term objectives pursued by the aggressor. Moreover, the dissemination of propaganda and manipulation of information leads to a false news cycle surfacing, based on which the public debate is diverted, and in the end, faulty decisions might be taken at a national level.

Furthermore, the Romanian diplomat presented aspects of the bilateral cooperation in the cyber area, within the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US, and underscored the necessity of developing the public-private partnership in the area, so that high-tech companies become partners for the national security.

AGERPRES .

Abonează-te pentru experiența stiripesurse.ro Premium!