Juan Carlos De la Torre-Escudo Digital
The National Cybersecurity Institute of Spain (INCIBE) and the Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (JPCERT/CC) have signed a collaboration agreement to “address emerging cybersecurity challenges, strengthening digital defenses from both countries,” as reported by INCIBE in a press release.
The signed agreement, valid for four years, focuses on the exchange of information on cybersecurity incidents detected by both countries.
In addition, both Spain and Japan have established a commitment to collaborate in various projects related to cybersecurity. This agreement also contemplates the exchange of delegates and visits between both countries, as well as the designation of a specific contact point in charge of facilitating periodic communications and managing emergency situations in the field of digital security.
As highlighted by Hiroaki Kikuchi, president of the JPCERT/CC council, cooperation in the area of cybersecurity between Japan and Spain is essential: “The increasing number of incidents in recent years related to unauthorized access to computer systems , connected to the Internet, have caused damage resulting from these intrusions and have the potential to become greatly widespread the larger the size of the Internet, creating the need for urgent measures. However, due to the large size and openness of the Internet, a different approach to security is necessary, based largely on close coordination and cooperation between relevant organizations.”
Félix Barrio, general director of INCIBE, has recognized the ‘great privilege’ of working with the JPCERT/CC: “Moving forward as quickly as possible is very important for both countries, because it is a key component to establish and strengthen a strategic collaboration that aims to improve collective information security efforts.”
INCIBE and JPCERT/CC are members of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), the international confederation of trusted computer incident response teams, which has more than 600 teams among its members, representing more than 100 countries.
FIRST holds an annual convention that promotes global coordination and cooperation between cybersecurity and incident response teams. Precisely, this collaboration with Japan began to take shape at the Montreal convention in 2023; and will continue to develop and define the lines of work at the 2024 convention, which will be held in Fukuoka (Japan).