Appendix: The SDGs and Cybersecurity

This table is built on reflections by the author, interviewees, and reviewers of this report. It also draws insight from the findings of Internet Governance Forum 2017’s Best Practice Forum on Cybersecurity.¹ Rather than a finished product, this table should be considered a work in progress, to be built upon by any and all interested parties. The author welcomes any additional thoughts from readers of this report.

Goal #1: End Poverty

Notable targets

• Reduce by half the number of humans living in poverty by 2030
• Give the poor and vulnerable equal rights to economic resources
• Reduce the vulnerability of the poor and other vulnerable populations to economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Supports economic growth by preserving the benefits digitization and increasing trust in it.
• Ending poverty depends on individuals being able to access information over the Internet. Thus, it can be disrupted by weaknesses in, and attacks on, the availability of information services and the networks that individuals use in connecting to them.

Goal #2: Zero Hunger

Notable targets

• Correct and prevent distortions in the world agricultural markets
• Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• While famine has more significant underlying causes, a stable food supply relies on distribution mechanisms, which relies on dependable ICT

Goal #3: Good Health and Well Being

Notable targets

• By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
• Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Increased digitization of the healthcare sector yields immediate dividends, but also exposes patient data to new risks and opens hospitals and other service providers up to new risk for disruption, as demonstrated by the 2017 ransomware attacks

Goal #4: Quality Education

Notable targets

• Substantially increase the number of youths and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
• Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability, and gender sensitive and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• ICT allows for more distributed and scalable delivery of educational products. However, these products and the systems must be trusted and secure to safeguard the privacy of students
• Additionally, good practices when using computers and digital technologies will be increasingly important skills, and educating populations on good cyber hygiene is an integral part of that

Goal #5: Gender Equality

Notable targets

• End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
• Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
• Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Although literature is still nascent on the topic, some studies have suggested that cybersecurity inequalities exacerbate existing societal inequalities, including along gender lines. In addition, online resources for reporting discrimination and violence against women require strict privacy controls or they risk putting women at further risk

Goal #6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Notable targets

• Expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
• Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Cybersecurity is important for protecting critical systems that use IT. As evidenced by various hacks on critical infrastructure, water and sanitation systems, as well as energy grids, are not out of bounds

Goal #7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Notable targets

• Expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Affordable and clean energy increasingly relies on automation and automated systems. As portrayed by power disruptions in Ukraine, these systems are vulnerable and can present new avenues for disruption is not properly secured

Goal #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Notable targets

• Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
• Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
• Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Refer to Goal 1. Economic growth depends on things like your money staying in the bank when you put it there, ensuring you control your intellectual property, and that the systems you use for your business are available.
• Mobile payment systems are increasingly important for distributed access to financial flows. Insecure payment systems will undermine trust and potentially stunt economic growth

Goal #9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Notable targets

• Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all
• Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets
• Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
• Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
• Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities
• Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the internet in least developed countries by 2020

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Increased access to ICT and novel internet-connected technologies without managing the technologies’ security risks making them inconvenient and may hinder uptake.
• Ports and modern transportation infrastructure have proven vulnerable to disruption from cyberattacks.

Goal #10: Reduced Inequalities

Notable targets

• Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
• Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Protecting the integrity of people’s information should be a priority no matter if it is the poor or the rich and powerful. Uneven access to cyber tools disadvantages the poor and exacerbates inequalities

Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Notable targets

• By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons
• By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations
• By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels
• Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

• Smart cities with intelligent physical, social, institutional, and economic architecture help deliver greater sustainability to cities and communities and contribute to the targets outlined here. However, as EY notes, insecure hardware, a larger cyber attack surface, issues around internet bandwidth, and increased reliance on apps are all cybersecurity challenges faced by increasingly digitized cities and communities.²

Goal #16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Notable targets

• Significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime
• Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
• Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels
• Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements
• Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime

How good cybersecurity contributes to the goal

1. Information systems can be a boon for transparency and increase the strength of peace and justice institutions. However, just as these systems can improve the delivery of justice, malicious manipulation of information and data threatens to weaken core democratic institutions.
2. Due to low barriers to entry and high yields, organized criminal groups are increasingly engaging in cybercrime. Equipping lower- and middle-income countries with the expertise to combat this new form of crime will help safeguard populations from this activity and give police the capacity to identify and prosecute cybercrime