Civil Society Organizations’ Cyber Resilience, Leaving No Civil Society Organization behind in Cyber Resilience

Civil society organisations (CSOs) play a critical role in society towards sustainable development - providing social services and promoting citizen participation. Increasingly, CSOs are relying on digital technologies for their operations. However, despite their increasing reliance on digital technology, especially during the ongoing pandemic, CSOs continue to lack the resources, expertise, capability, and influence to manage their cybersecurity effectively. Further, worldwide, CSOs remain marginalised in the dominant cybersecurity narratives, discussions on cybersecurity, and strategies on cyberspace.

The report presents findings from a study of the cyber resilience posture of CSOs in Macau SAR – China and the region’s cybersecurity landscape. Following the pattern of CSOs worldwide, local CSOs occupy a precarious and vulnerable position within the local cybersecurity landscape, where their cyber resilience posture is shaped by their limited resources and limited participation in the local cybersecurity ecosystem. Further, the absence of cyber resilience management solutions tailored for the specific needs, practices, and context of CSOs limits their ability to benefit from existing tools, instruments, and services.

Given the systemic effect of adverse cyber incidents, the report echoes the call for building societal cyber resilience through addressing unequal distribution of cybersecurity resources between different sectors of society, improving cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination in cybersecurity strategy formulation, capacity-building, and incident handling, and developing contextually informed cybersecurity solutions. It advances specific recommendations for the CSOs management, private service providers, and the government to contribute towards CSOs’ cyber resilience.  

For the full report, please click here.