Public and private partnerships have recently been consolidated by a joint Memorandum on the Progress in the Area of Network and Information Security signed between the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), the Lithuanian Banking Association and the ITT Companies’ Association “Infobalt”.

The Memorandum is a basis for developing and building a public culture of network and information security in Lithuania. The key priorities for the signatory parties are: public education, training, information, encouragement of the use of security tools, investigation and prevention of security incidents, co-operation to improve legal framework.

A Memorandum Implementation Committee, consisting of representatives of the signatories and several other organisations, has been established to plan and implement specific projects in the area of network and information security. An outstanding example is a recently implemented project, called “Protect your computer!”.

The goal of the project was to provide PC users with tools enabling them to protect their computers and the information stored in them. Organised in cooperation with 16 partner organisations in public, private and civil society sectors, the project was exclusively funded by the private sector. The outcome of the project was nation-wide awareness raising and 100, 000 CDs containing security software packages that were distributed in all the regions of the country, including rural areas.

The CDs were delivered to more then 400 public places in Lithuania such as libraries and post offices, as well as to 1,500 Lithuanian schools. The CD contains easily installable software, such as anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls, anti-spam and content filtering programs together with advice and tips for users.

Most of these programs are freeware, several of them commercial but free for trial. A copy of the CD was posted on www.esaugumas.lt, a website dedicated to internet security. Various programs were downloaded from this virtual CD more than 30.000 times.

New actions are being planned and they will most notably include public education and training measures, such as preparation and organisation of seminars, investigation and prevention of security incidents, and co-operation to improve legal framework.

Rytis Rainys, CRA
Pranas Smaizys, BITE Lietuva