04 February 2025, 16:06

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Cyprus and Greece strengthen cybersecurity cooperation

Cyprus and Greece strengthen cybersecurity cooperation
Cyprus and Greece strengthen cybersecurity cooperation

Deputy Minister of Innovation Nicodemos Damianou met Greek Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou at the inaugural Cyber Intelligence Summit in Athens on Tuesday.

According to an official announcement, the meeting aimed to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation.

The conference, titled ‘Protecting Today, Organising Tomorrow,’ featured maps of Greece and Cyprus, reflecting the ongoing collaboration between the two countries in the field.

Damianou discussed the coordinated efforts taking place. “This is consistent with actions that are being taken both at the level of the leaders of our two countries and individual actions that we are planning and discussing with minister Papastergiou,” he said.

Reflecting on the rapid pace of technological advancements, he expressed amazement at both their progress and the complexities they introduce.

“We live in a reality where simply observing technological developments is remarkable, and the possibilities they create are even more impressive,” he stated.

He mentioned that “according to the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025, these developments are significantly affected by external factors that complicate the management of cyberattacks.”

Damianou explained the changes in cybersecurity as occurring on three levels.

“Firstly,” he said, “we are already in the era of ransomware as a service. The tools for cyberattacks are evolving dramatically, particularly with the use of artificial intelligence.”

He noted that AI is levelling the playing field between large enterprises and cybercriminals, changing how we must protect against complex threats like deepfakes.

“Secondly,” he continued, “the digitisation of the state means a wider attack surface—from electronic document management to smart cities and autonomous vehicles.”

According to him, this expansion makes data protection more critical than ever, including the need to secure AI models themselves.

Discussing physical and digital convergence, he underlined recent attacks on undersea cables, pointing out the interconnectedness of modern infrastructures.

“Cyber defence converges with physical security, and vulnerabilities in one country can easily spread to another, underlining the importance of international cooperation,” he explained.

On potential impacts, Damianou raised a critical scenario. “What would happen if a major cloud computing platform were compromised, or even if the Internet went down?”

He referred to discussions at the recent STS forum in Japan about these risks, emphasising the long-term impacts on government credibility and the digital economy.

Commeting on government initiatives, he said that the current administration is “making cybersecurity a top priority”.

He explained that this involves “designing a cross-cutting programme that focuses on addressing and preventing cybersecurity incidents across public and private sectors”.

He cited the National CSIRT programme and the Digital Security Authority’s efforts, which include substantial support for small and medium-sized enterprises through guidance and funding.

“Every action, every tool that we implement in the context of the country’s digital transformation is directly linked to the concept of security,” Damianou added.

Emphasising recent digital innovations, he mentioned the launch of the ‘Digital Citizen’ application in December, modelled after the ‘Gov.gr Wallet’.

He said that this initiative is part of today’s efforts to advance collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Governance of Greece by immediately proceeding with the interconnection of the two applications, enabling the recognition of documents maintained in each application across both territories.

Explaing the above, he also mentioned that “this month also marked the introduction of the electronic IDs, which allows citizens to access online services and sign documents electronically, ensuring the highest level of security sanctioned by the EU eIDAS Regulation.”

With the NIS2 Directive submitted to Parliament, Damianou noted that more critical infrastructures would be supported.

“We are also creating a collaborative space within the national cybersecurity coordination centre, where businesses, academia, and government can exchange ideas and solutions,” he added.

Despite these efforts, vulnerabilities remain. He pointed out that recent surveys in Cyprus show nearly half of the respondents experienced a cyber-attack in the last year, and many businesses have not updated their cybersecurity policies to keep pace with technological advancements.

He also stressed the foundational role of trust in cybersecurity. “Trust is the basic foundation of all this effort, and the basic foundation of trust is security,” he said.

“The adoption of technologies and digital tools that facilitate the lives of our citizens requires methodical planning and the synergy of the public and private sectors,” he added.

“This”, he concluded, “is the path forward in addressing cybersecurity challenges.”

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