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Event report | Publikácia

EU, Japan and US: international cooperation on cybersecurity

The Japan, EU and US brought together 40 participants from the Indo-Pacific region and a public of 300 interested professionals for a seminar on cybersecurity and industrial controls systems held from 24 to 28 October.

Digitalisation is driving the shift towards a more interconnected world. In the aftermath of the pandemic and recent geopolitical tensions, interconnection is also contributing to an ever-expanding landscape of cybersecurity threats. Cybersecurity measures are ineffective when implemented independently by a single organization or a single country. In unprecedented times, cooperation with like-minded countries is indispensable.

The cybersecurity initiative brings together cybersecurity experts who operate critical infrastructure, who are part of Computer security incident response teams (or CSIRTS), and policy experts from the Indo-Pacific region. The one-week program provided the participants with unique and valuable opportunities to remotely conduct hands-on training, to learn about current trends in ransomware and cyber incidents from Japanese, EU and US experts . This unique occasion enhanced participants’ knowledge and capabilities in cybersecurity. The program also contributed to establishing a common understanding on industrial control systems cybersecurity and strengthening relationships between the Indo-Pacific region and Japan, the EU and the U.S. It helped built a foundation for further international cooperation to jointly address growing cybersecurity threats.                         

The annual cybersecurity and industrial control systems week was hosted by the Japanese Ministry of economy, trade and industry and the Japanese Industrial cybersecurity center of excellence, in collaboration with the European Commission’s Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, as well as the United States’ Department of homeland security/cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency, the Department of State, the Department of energy and the Idaho national laboratory.

This initiative is gaining in importance, especially in the view of the Japan-EU Digital Partnership concluded by the EU and Japan during the 28th EU-Japan Summit held in May this year in Tokyo. Cooperation in cybersecurity domain is explicitly mentioned in the bilateral agreement. Both sides recognise the importance of promoting cybersecurity information sharing and committed to continue organization of the trilateral Industrial Control System Cyber Security training in the future.

Find out more about the event in the press release of the Ministry of economy, trade and industry of Japan.  

Background

In 2021, the EU officially joined the annual Industrial control systems cybersecurity week, launched by Japan in collaboration with the US in 2018. The initiative aims to enhance cybersecurity capacity of the Indo-Pacific region and reinforce collaboration with participating countries.