The five smallest municipalities in Tenerife —Fasnia, Vilaflor de Chasna, El Tanque, Buenavista and Los Silos– have been placed at the forefront of digital security of Spain obtaining the certification in the National Scheme of Security.
An accreditation that, according to the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Peter Martin, they only have 15 of the more than 8,131 municipalities in Spain and that they have achieved thanks to the Cybersecurity program promoted by the island corporation with the support of the National Cryptologic Center, dependent on the National Intelligence Center (CNI).
During the inauguration of the ‘Cybersecurity Conference in the Local Administration’, in which more than a hundred representatives of local administrations participated, Pedro Martín encouraged other municipalities on the island to join this initiative to “protect the information that there is in the local administrations against cyber attacks and to weave a network that allows guaranteeing the security of the institutions of Tenerife and the personal information of the citizens”.
The event was also attended by the Second Vice President and Island Councilor for Finance and Modernization, Berta Pérez, the Councilor for Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julio Pérez, the head of the Cybersecurity Regulations and Services area of the National Cryptologic Center, attached to the National Intelligence Center (CCN-CNI), Pablo López; and the president of the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (Fecam), María Concepción Brito.
Pedro Martín stressed that “the Cabildo’s intention is not to protect but to work on an equal level with all the island’s municipalities to protect the files and information contained in the administration, through a program in which the CCN and that guarantees them complete management autonomy, seek an umbrella that would give protection, to the Cabildo and to the municipalities of the entire island”.
The Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Canary Islands Government Julio Pérez, pointed out at the opening ceremony of this meeting that “the speed at which technological changes occur means that risks also increase”, and highlighted “the role in cybersecurity that the Cabildo is playing, which, both in this subject as in others is becoming a beacon after which the rest go”.
CYBER ATTACKS INCREASE
The second vice president and island councilor for the Presidency, Finance and Modernization, Berta Pérez, indicated that “citizenship’s relations with the administration electronically have grown exponentially and with it cyberattacks have also grown, therefore it is a responsibility to offer secure communication.
This initiative, which reinforces and supports the local administration “joins the Comprehensive Assistance to Municipalities project”, noted Berta Pérez, who pointed out that “today the five smallest on the island are here, soon all those with less than 20,000 inhabitants will be reached, the large ones as well and even, through the Fecai, some councils.”
The head of the Cybersecurity Regulations and Services Area of the National Cryptologic Center, attached to the National Intelligence Center (CCN-CNI), Pablo López, highlighted the inter-administrative work between the Cabildo de Tenerife and the local corporations in which, with the support “they have been able to see and face the challenge that is proposed to achieve an agile, safe and useful administration in the face of a complicated horizon”.
The president of the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (Fecam)Mari Brito emphasized the willingness of the federation with “the administrative cooperation and co-governance that has been installed in this mandate from the Government and Cabildo de Tenerife”, and pointed out the effort made by the municipalities in this matter.
Proof of this, he said, are the sectoral commissions for new technologies or the transparency commission, “an issue that has been gaining vital importance.”
The president valued “the importance of the office of integral assistance to the municipalities that the Cabildo has created and that is integrated into the Modernization Plan that is carried out with all the municipalities and, above all, with the smallest ones.”
CONTENTS OF THE DAY
During these conferences, representatives of state, regional and local organizations have analyzed aspects related to the security of electronic administration, governance through technology, and the implementation of systems in the local administration.
Among the speakers, the island director of Modernization of the Cabido de Tenerife, Daniel González Morales, explained that one of the corporation’s short-term challenges is to serve as a reference and help the island’s municipalities in these aspects.
Carlos Córdoba, head of the Cybersecurity Operations Center Area of the CCN National Cryptologic Center, José Damián Ferrer Quintana, head of the Telecommunications and Systems Area of the Government of the Canary Islands, Clemente Barreto Pestana, head of the Planning Technical Service also participated in the conference. and ICT Strategies of the Cabildo de Tenerife, representatives of the four municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants on the island of Tenerife (municipalities of Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Arona and Granadilla de Abona), as well as Fasnia, Vilaflor de Chasna, El Tanque , Buenavista and Los Silos, the five municipalities already integrated into the SOC of the Cabildo.
