How Public-Private Collaborations Contribute to Cybercrime Disruption
                     How Public-Private Collaborations
Contribute to Cybercrime Disruption
By  Derek Manky, Chief  Security Strategist  & Global  VP Threat Intelligence | Board
Advisor | Threat Alliances at FortiGuard Labs
Nearly 90% of organizations experienced at least one breach in the past 12 months. A myriad of
ongoing  challenges  impact  an  organization’s  susceptibility  to  cyberattacks,  ranging  from  the
constant and rapid adoption of new technologies to the ongoing cybersecurity talent shortage.
While there is no one-size-fits-all  approach to enhancing organizational security measures and
guarding against breaches, one thing is clear: A single entity cannot disrupt cybercrime alone, yet
we must fight against our adversaries and hold them accountable for their actions. Establishing
choke points on the chess board requires ongoing collaboration between the public and private
sectors. Fortinet is proud to be part of numerous collaborative efforts to address cybercrime. The
company  is  a  founding  member  of  the  World  Economic  Forum Centre  for  Cybersecurity,  a
contributor  to  its Partnership  Against  Cybercrime  (PAC),  and  a  founding  member  of
the Cybercrime Atlas.
The PAC launched in 2020 as a first step toward establishing a global architecture for promoting
public-private  cooperation  to  combat  cybercrime.  It  offers  a  platform for  sharing  insights  and
exploring new approaches to drive successful collaboration against digital adversaries, bringing
together  businesses,  national  and  international  law  enforcement  agencies,  and  nonprofit
organizations.
In 2023, the PAC created the Cybercrime Atlas, a first-of-its-kind initiative, leveraging the efforts of
dozens of organizations to drive real impact by mapping threat actor activities and creating a chain
of  disruption  in  the  cybercriminal  ecosystem.  Fortinet  is  a  long-standing  and  active  PAC
community contributor and a founding member of the  Cybercrime Atlas initiative.
From  Operational  to  Actionable:  Cybercrime  Atlas  Efforts  Contribute  to
INTERPOL Arrests
The Cybercrime Atlas  became operational  earlier  this  year,  two years  after  the  initiative  was
introduced.  Last  month,  the  International  Criminal  Police  Organization
(INTERPOL) announced that  it identified  and  arrested more  than  1,000  suspects  connected  to
major  cybercrime  operations  with  support  from  the  Cybercrime  Atlas  initiative.  This  effort
dismantled 134,089 malicious infrastructures and networks across 19 African countries, which had
impacted  more  than  35,000  victims  to  date  and  resulted  in  $193  million  in  financial  losses
worldwide.
The Cybercrime Atlas initiative’s investigations group, composed of more than 20 members, meets
weekly to profile threat actors, review open-source intelligence regarding cybercriminal activities,
correlate  data,  and identify  potential  disruption  points.  This  information is  then organized into
intelligence packages to aid cybercrime takedown efforts.
In its first year of operation, Cybercrime Atlas contributors shared over 10,000 community-vetted
and actionable data points  and supported two cross-border  cybercrime disruption efforts.  The
group created seven comprehensive intelligence packages on emerging threats that they shared
with law enforcement to operationalize this actionable data. These intelligence packages from the
Cybercrime Atlas initiative contributed directly to the success of this INTERPOL-led effort, which
ultimately disrupted attacker operations and held adversaries accountable for their actions.
Strong Public-Private Collaborations Are Vital to Fighting Cybercrime
This recent  takedown exemplifies  how  public-private  collaborations  like  the  Cybercrime  Atlas
initiative drive real impact in disrupting global cybercrime. Working across sectors and prioritizing
threat intelligence sharing benefits the cybersecurity community,  making us more resilient and
effective collectively.
At  Fortinet,  we  believe  our  corporate  responsibility  is  to  make  the  world  safer  and  more
sustainable,  creating  a  digital  world  you  can  always  trust.  To  deliver  on  this  vision,  we’re
committed to addressing cybersecurity risks for our customers and society.
No single individual or organization has complete insight into all the threats. Effectively disrupting
cybercrime requires public and private organizations to work together, taking a coordinated and
unified approach.
In addition to Fortinet’s involvement with the World Economic Forum PAC and Cybercrime Atlas
initiative, we are committed to partnership and cooperation with global law enforcement agencies,
government  organizations,  and  industry  organizations.  Fortinet  has  been  a  trusted  partner  to
INTERPOL and  an  active  Global  Cybercrime Expert  Group  member  for  nearly  10  years.  The
company also joined INTERPOL’s Gateway initiative in 2018, which offers a framework for sharing
threat intelligence across organizations. This ongoing collaboration has resulted in adopting more
substantial threat intelligence standards and protocols across the industry and impactful global
cybercriminal takedowns. For example, in 2022, the FortiGuard Labs team provided evidentiary
support  to INTERPOL and  African  Member  countries  as  part  of  the Africa  Cyber  Surge
Operation to help detect, investigate, and disrupt cybercrime through coordinated law enforcement
activities, using INTERPOL platforms, tools, and channels in close cooperation with AFRIPOL.
In addition to working with INTERPOL, Fortinet is actively involved with numerous public-private
collaborations. The company is a long-standing member of the NATO Industry Cyber Partnership,
a partner of NIST’s  National Cybersecurity Excellence Partnership  program, a founding member of
the Cyber Threat Alliance, an official research partner with MITRE Engenuity’s Center for Threat-
Informed Defense, and more.
As the global cybercrime landscape evolves, these collaborations will only become more critical to
halting threat actors. The recent efforts of INTERPOL and the Cybercrime Atlas initiative are a
strong example of how, when we work together, we can move faster and more effectively toward
our collective goal of disrupting cybercrime.
Thank You.