The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to allocate 665,675.45 euros to ensure cybersecurity at the Ministry’s headquarters, its dependent bodies (the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Instituto Cervantes) and the Permanent Representation of Spain in Brussels (REPER).
On the one hand, the Council of Ministers yesterday took “reason for the declaration of emergency” for the immediate contracting of surveillance and security services for the administrative network of the central services of the REPER-EU, the AECID and the Cervantes Institute for an amount of 348,800.00 euros excluding VAT (422,048.00 euros including 21% VAT), through co-financing between the actors involved.
This measure is in line with the recommendations of the National Cryptologic Center (CCN-CERT) and the need to have the necessary technical and human resources to prevent computer attacks that could compromise the security of information systems, taking into account “the existence of a critical situation involving serious danger in the field of security of the MAUC and its dependent bodies that requires immediate action”.
Likewise, the Council of Ministers also took “reason for the declaration of emergency” for the procurement of the supply of an EPP protection solution (Endpoint Protection Platform, the current name of the traditional antivirus, a security solution designed to detect and block threats at device level) compatible with the EDR systems (protection system for the entire infrastructure and equipment of a company) of the Cybersecurity Operations Center of the General State Administration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its dependent bodies (AECID and Instituto Cervantes).
This decision is also in line with the recommendations of the National Cryptologic Center, which has informed of the need to adopt measures “as soon as possible” that lead to the implementation of an EPP protection solution that allows to have a global vision and protects, in an efficient way and adapted to the most advanced threats, all the workstations and servers of the Ministry and its dependent bodies.
As neither External nor the dependent organizations have an EPP solution, the acquisition of the necessary licenses is required to obtain a single product that allows centralized management from the Ministry and guarantees efficiency in the detection and neutralization of advanced cyber-attacks. Specifically, the project consists of the acquisition of 9,300 user licenses for user equipment and servers for a period of twelve months from the start of the execution of the contract, which will be co-financed by the parties involved.
Consequently, the processing of this file for the supply of an EPP protection solution for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the AECID and the Instituto Cervantes has been declared an emergency for an amount of 201,345.00 euros excluding VAT (243,627.45 euros including 21% VAT).
