CommMin Cojocaru: 'Romanian cyber security companies can become internationally famous, such as Nadia or Hagi'

"We have to recognise that there are very powerful companies in the private sector and I want to bring back for debate the support that we try to give to all who work not only in the cyber security area, because Romania might have companies in the field such as Bitdefender to become internationally famous next to Nadia Comaneci and Gica Hagi. From a legislative point of view, the Ministry of Communications and Information Society has taken up the role of transposing the NIS Directive. At this time, we certainly need CERT to reach the required level of authority and be able to coordinate all this area, through this legislative change, because it is vital that everything industry, economy and more have a very rigorous control area. Lately, we have all been able to see that e-Commerce and not only, the whole industry advanced considerably. That is why we are under the obligation, besides conducting the investment we make in everything related to IT proper, to invest in the cyber security area as well, in order to have secure networks, safe electronic commerce," Cojocaru said. 

The official also mentioned a call for cyber security projects released this year amounting to 30 million euros. 

"Apart from the legislative area, I want to talk about winning funds for projects. At the moment, both CERT-RO and other institutions, including the SRI [Romanian Intelligence Service], practically all those involved in this area of cyber security, have the opportunity to access important amounts by answering to the call that opened mid-year worth 30 million euros. We are currently waiting for these projects to be submitted, and so we think that in 2018 the ministry I am coordinating, along with the government team, has done the job of transposing the NIS Directive and providing the possibility of funding of about 30 million euros for this industry area," said Cojocaru. 

The Romanian National Computer Security Incident Response Team (CERT-RO) organises the 8th edition of the annual "New Global Challenges in Cyber Security" conference October 16 - 17. This year's event, hosted by the National Library of Romania, aims to offer mixed debates, presentations and workshops addressing public policies and technical issues relevant to cyber security in the Romanian, European and global space. 

Guests will have the opportunity to discuss diplomatic and legal challenges related to cyber incidents, while also providing insights into capabilities and combating threats globally.  

According to the organisers, simultaneous sessions are dedicated to technical discussions on the latest cyber security technologies and solutions in the field of critical infrastructure protection, machine learning, forensic investigations and IoT. 

The CERT-RO conference brings together cyber security experts, government officials and policy makers, as well as representatives of private companies from various fields and industries, NGOs and academics.

AGERPRES