Deputy Minister of Innovation Nicodemos Damianou met Greek Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou on the inaugural Cyber Intelligence Summit in Athens on Tuesday.
In response to an official announcement, the assembly aimed to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation.
The convention, titled ‘Defending Immediately, Organising Tomorrow,’ featured maps of Greece and Cyprus, reflecting the continued collaboration between the 2 international locations within the discipline.
Damianou mentioned the coordinated efforts happening. “That is in line with actions which might be being taken each on the degree of the leaders of our two international locations and particular person actions that we’re planning and discussing with minister Papastergiou,” he mentioned.
Reflecting on the fast tempo of technological developments, he expressed amazement at each their progress and the complexities they introduce.
“We dwell in a actuality the place merely observing technological developments is outstanding, and the probabilities they create are much more spectacular,” he said.
He talked about that “in line with the World Cybersecurity Outlook 2025, these developments are considerably affected by exterior elements that complicate the administration of cyberattacks.”
Damianou defined the modifications in cybersecurity as occurring on three ranges.
“Firstly,” he mentioned, “we’re already within the period of ransomware as a service. The instruments for cyberattacks are evolving dramatically, significantly with using synthetic intelligence.”
He famous that AI is levelling the taking part in discipline between massive enterprises and cybercriminals, altering how we should defend towards advanced threats like deepfakes.
“Secondly,” he continued, “the digitisation of the state means a wider assault floor—from digital doc administration to good cities and autonomous autos.”
In response to him, this enlargement makes knowledge safety extra crucial than ever, together with the necessity to safe AI fashions themselves.
Discussing bodily and digital convergence, he underlined current assaults on undersea cables, mentioning the interconnectedness of contemporary infrastructures.
“Cyber defence converges with bodily safety, and vulnerabilities in a single nation can simply unfold to a different, underlining the significance of worldwide cooperation,” he defined.
On potential impacts, Damianou raised a crucial situation. “What would occur if a serious cloud computing platform have been compromised, or even when the Web went down?”
He referred to discussions on the current STS discussion board in Japan about these dangers, emphasising the long-term impacts on authorities credibility and the digital financial system.
Commeting on authorities initiatives, he mentioned that the present administration is “making cybersecurity a high precedence”.
He defined that this entails “designing a cross-cutting programme that focuses on addressing and stopping cybersecurity incidents throughout private and non-private sectors”.
He cited the Nationwide CSIRT programme and the Digital Safety Authority’s efforts, which embody substantial help for small and medium-sized enterprises by steerage and funding.
“Each motion, each device that we implement within the context of the nation’s digital transformation is immediately linked to the idea of safety,” Damianou added.
Emphasising current digital improvements, he talked about the launch of the ‘Digital Citizen’ utility in December, modelled after the ‘Gov.gr Pockets’.
He mentioned that this initiative is a part of right this moment’s efforts to advance collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Governance of Greece by instantly continuing with the interconnection of the 2 purposes, enabling the popularity of paperwork maintained in every utility throughout each territories.
Explaing the above, he additionally talked about that “this month additionally marked the introduction of the digital IDs, which permits residents to entry on-line providers and signal paperwork electronically, making certain the very best degree of safety sanctioned by the EU eIDAS Regulation.”
With the NIS2 Directive submitted to Parliament, Damianou famous that extra crucial infrastructures could be supported.
“We’re additionally making a collaborative area inside the nationwide cybersecurity coordination centre, the place companies, academia, and authorities can trade concepts and options,” he added.
Regardless of these efforts, vulnerabilities stay. He identified that current surveys in Cyprus present almost half of the respondents skilled a cyber-attack within the final 12 months, and plenty of companies haven’t up to date their cybersecurity insurance policies to maintain tempo with technological developments.
He additionally harassed the foundational function of belief in cybersecurity. “Belief is the fundamental basis of all this effort, and the fundamental basis of belief is safety,” he mentioned.
“The adoption of applied sciences and digital instruments that facilitate the lives of our residents requires methodical planning and the synergy of the private and non-private sectors,” he added.
“This”, he concluded, “is the trail ahead in addressing cybersecurity challenges.”
