Cyprus gears up for a major cyberattack and cybercrime

Cyprus authorities are well equipped to cope with a major cyberattack incident, the Head of the Police Office for Combating Cybercrime and Digital Forensic Lab Andreas Anastasiades, has told the Cyprus News Agency. Speaking on the occasion of the European Cybersecurity Month, an awareness campaign month, held every October he said ''The Republic of Cyprus is prepared at a fairly good level and we are convinced that we can cope with any major cyberattack case. Of course, this cannot be done only by those involved in such incidents, but always in cooperation and collaboration with partners such as Europol and Enisa, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security''.

A Digital Security Authority was set up to identify, at an early stage, any anticipated cyberattacks and to coordinate with stakholders.

The Office regularly attends preparedness exercises organized by Enisa, in cooperation with the Office of Electronic Communications & Postal Regulations (OCECPR) and the Digital Authority. 

"As far as the education and infrastructure are concerned, I can say that we are at a very high level, the members of our crew are well trained and we have  state-of-the-art equipment. This has been achieved through European funds we have received, in the framework of the Internal Security Fund-Police Cooperation. Members of our team are certified trainers in other countries and some already work for Europol", he said.

The public should be aware that cybersecurity and cybercrime are two different things but related to each other. Cybersecurity is the term covering the broader security of network systems that also covers the security of the users. "On the other hand, the term cybercrime refers primarily to crime against computer systems and is divided into three main categories: a) content-related offenses (child sexual abuse over the Internet); b) attacks against computer systems; and c) crimes facilitated through internet (scams),” he explained.

The Office is responsible for investigating and preventing cybercrime, especially whatever falls into the above first two categories. The main threats are: Ddos Attacks, Malware distribution, Ransomware, P2P child sexual abusive material distribution and end to end encryption. 

The public can report incidents such as content related offenses (child sexual abuse) and offenses related to hacking and fraud at www.cybercrime.police.gov.cy .