Agency heads from nine countries share insights and approaches to help improve collective cyber resilience of global democracy. UK and US cyber chiefs convene international partners to discuss the heightened threat that groups central to our democratic societies face online. The head of the National Cyber Security Centre has co-chaired a meeting with international partners to discuss how democracies can help defend communities at higher risk of being targeted online.
Communities identified as being at higher risk include individuals working in politics, including elected officials such as MPs, journalists, academics, lawyers, dissidents, and those sanctioned by foreign states. The dialogue, which has been set up by CISA as part of its High-Risk Community Protection initiative, saw participants brief about their existing efforts to protect civil society groups online, exchange insights into the threat landscape and agree to continue collaborating.
The UK is committed to working with partners to ensure cyberspace remains a safe and prosperous place for everyone. A range of cyber security guidance, including practical advice for high-risk individuals, such as those working in politics can be found on the NCSC website.
NCSC highlighted how commercial cyber intrusion tools – or spyware – have almost certainly been used by some states in the targeting of individuals such as journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents and opponents and foreign government officials. The participants in this first Strategic Dialogue on the Cyber Security of Civil Society Under Threat of Transnational Repression have agreed to meet in future to continue addressing the shared challenges of transnational repression.
