Cyprus launches National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre

Deputy Minister of Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou has launched the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre noting that the State would continue to attach due importance to the cybersecurity sector.

In his greeting at the launch on 4 June, Damianou said that the inauguration event marked a very important development as regards the creation of an integrated cybersecurity ecosystem in Cyprus. He added that the designation of the Digital Security Authority as the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NCC-CY) complements “a complex network of initiatives” through which the shielding, resilience and sustainability of the country's economy and society were ensured against the ever-increasing threats and attacks in cyberspace.

Damianou said that, by 2025, financial losses due to cybercrime are estimated to increase to $10.5 trillion globally, while the global cybersecurity market was estimated to grow to $270 billion by 2026 from $170 billion in 2020. He added that businesses rank cybersecurity among the top four risks in the coming year, according to PwC's global survey of CEOs.

He referred to the evolution of artificial intelligence, “which is expected to lead to an even greater increase in the frequency and effectiveness of cyber attacks”, and said that, as the possibilities of technology expand and the digital transformation intensifies, so will the threats increase and evolve, stressing that a holistic approach to cyber security becomes, a non-negotiable priority for everyone, public organisations, businesses and citizens.

An integrated strategic approach that includes structures and measures for systematic prevention and management of cybersecurity, as well as measures to deal with and respond to cybersecurity incidents was also the approach of his Deputy Ministry, he said, for the shielding of the state's critical infrastructures, through a horizontal cybersecurity framework for the public sector, while, at the same time, having included security as a necessary parameter in the planning and implementation of the technological projects it implements. The same approach, he said, should be followed by every organisation.

He also noted that 99% of businesses in Cyprus were small and medium-sized ones, many of which have not yet fully integrated technological upgrading into their strategic priorities and therefore needed help in terms of cyber defence.

(Source: CNA)