30th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Cybersecurity and Cyber Defense

Dr. Paul Maurer warned that cybersecurity is the defining economic and national security threat of our time, with global cybercrime costs reaching an estimated $10 trillion in 2024—surpassing all other major transnational crimes combined. He stressed that cybersecurity is ultimately a human, not technical, challenge, requiring ethical leadership and trustworthy professionals.

Under his leadership, Montreat College partnered with the U.S. National Security Agency to develop the nation’s first ethics-centered cybersecurity curriculum for Centers of Academic Excellence, resulting in the book Code of Honor: Embracing Ethics in Cybersecurity, co-authored with Ed Skoudis. Dr. Maurer introduced the Cybersecurity Code of Honor, modeled on historic ethical frameworks, to guide professionals in issues such as integrity, privacy, restraint, and collaboration.

He concluded by urging governments to integrate ethics-based training into national cybersecurity strategies, offering the Code of Honor and Montreat College’s programs as resources to build a resilient and trustworthy cyber workforce.