Friday, 17 November 2023, 13:23
Since ancient times, ports have been the home to the Armada (Navy), in charge of defending its cities from attacks coming from the sea. Now, in a world full of technology, a large part of the threats to institutions and citizens come from hackers. Cybersecurity is therefore key in fighting these threats, a sector where Andalucía is arming itself to fight cybercrime. This is marked with the opening of the new Centro de Ciberseguridad de Andalucía (CIAN) this Thursday, a cybersecurity centre located in the Palmeral de las Sorpresas at pier 2 at the port of Malaga.
The president of the Junta de Andalucía was given the role of officially opening the facility, which happened to take place just a few weeks before Google’s cybersecurity centre in Malaga, the Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC). Google’s facility is located in the former headquarters of the Military Government on Paseo de la Farola near the port.
Two landmarks thanks to both public and private funding, and which make Malaga “each day more and more of a leader in the technology and cybersecurity sector,” according to Juanma Moreno, who stressed that to face challenged “as complex as cybersecurity we have to work together”.
Speaking on the CIAN, whose location in Malaga is an example of the decentralisation plan pushed by the Andalusian government, Moreno highlighted that it is a “cutting edge institution destined to be the best of its kind in southern Europe to respond to the rise in serious digital threats”.
New Challenges
After touring the facilities, the head of the autonomous regional government said that this centre means “another important step forward, more leadership and better preparation for new and exciting challenges” and added that Andalucía is leading the transformation to new challenges which, in turn, is a “transformation for leadership”. As he said himself, Andalucía will be “at the helm” of these new times to become “a national and international reference.
“The Centro de Ciberseguridad de Andalucía will be a valuable tool in making Malaga and all of Andalucía a better place to live, work, do business, and enjoy the present times with a guarantee of cybersecurity. Today we are taking a giant step towards making Malaga and Andalucía a cybsecure place. Security is fundamental because it creates trust and confidence, investment, prosperity and development,” he said.
From the CIAN, in which 74 million euros was invested, they will be able to control the essential services necessary for public institutions to function, as well as critical infrastructures that support the network. In addition, it will provide a sense of trust and protection for citizens, private companies and public institutions in the Andalusian digital ecosystem, all while helping to improve digital skills within Andalucía , as explained by Moreno.
The president of the Diputación of Malaga provincial authority, Francisco Salado, highlighted the importance of the CIAN as a tool to reinforce the role of Malaga as “ a leader of this strategic and thriving sector” and argued that cybersecurity is an industry that, as far as he knows, requires qualified workers, specialised studies and companies and institutions that constantly invest in innovation. Salado also highlighted Malaga’s advantage in attracting talented individuals as it is “becoming one of the great technological centres of Europe”.