Press Release
Catalonia’s Cybersecurity Agency Joins GCA
The President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), Philip Reitinger, the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Transformation, Sergi Macén, and the Director of the Agència de Ciberseguretat de Catalunya (Catalonia’s Cybersecurity Agency), Tomàs Roy, met yesterday in San Francisco to sign a memorandum of understanding that will establish the Agency’s partnership with our not-for-profit committed to reducing the impact of cyber risk at a global scale.
With this agreement, the Agency will be able to access two collaborative, data-powered projects currently coordinated by GCA— AIDE and Domain Trust, on IoT security and domain abuse, respectively.
‘This agreement with the Agència de Ciberseguretat de Catalunya enhances our connection with a key partner and helps build a global community of actors allied against cyber attacks,’ said Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance. ‘Our projects can be a valuable resource to further the work of Agència de Ciberseguretat de Catalunya, as well as an opportunity to strengthen its international reach. Likewise, these bodies help us get to the very heart of the ecosystems they protect.’
The Deputy Minister of Telecommunications stated that ‘the collaboration with all the actors is vital to protect people and from Catalonia -and in particular the Secretariat that I lead- we have initiated and accelerated actions to focus on improving digital services for citizens. The signature with the GCA is an example of the many actions we are doing and will continue to do in this that we will continue to do along these lines,’ Macén emphasized.
Tomàs Roy stressed, for his part, that ‘this collaboration is an opportunity to encourage those who seek a safer world in the digital world, especially for those young people who are protected. In addition, it will allow us to include everyone and actively participate in the construction of a digital world in the respect of digital rights for a full digital life.’
The AIDE (Automated IoT Defense Ecosystem) project includes a massive data platform with information on attacks and malicious behaviors targeted at IoT devices that is constantly being collected by a network of sensors distributed around the globe.
This information will enable the Agency to analyze trends, to develop and implement algorithms aimed at identifying new cybersecurity threats, to explore vulnerabilities, and to implement policies to improve resilience in IoT environments and the protection of smart cities.
Domain Trust operates as a community of action and an information-exchange platform that provides users with data on known and suspected malicious domains, a common resource to distribute malware, send phishing emails, capture credentials, and build command and control points for networks of infected devices.
Apart from these two projects, the Agency will also be able to build campaigns around GCA’s Toolkits. These have been designed to help SMEs and Internet users improve their cybersecurity and reduce their exposure to cyber risks.
The tools and resources included in these Toolkits have been selected to the highest standards so that they are easy to understand and implement by the different target end user communities that they address.
About the Global Cyber Alliance
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to eradicating cyber risk and improving our connected world. GCA works with our partner community worldwide to build practical, accessible resources and measure their impact, in order to achieve a secure, trustworthy Internet that enables social and economic progress for all. Learn more at www.globalcyberalliance.org
