Colombia will experience new elections to the Congress of the Republic on March 13 and consultations to elect three presidential candidates with a view to the electoral process on May 29. The National Government has already taken measures to stop any possible cybersecurity attack that might affect the elections.
This was announced by the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, on March 6 following he explained the cyber crisis management drill carried out this Sunday, is part of the security strategy deployed by the Public Force through the Democracy Plan, in order to guarantee the security of the next day of elections to the Congress of the Republic.
What this drill allows is to ratify the capabilities we have, determine the processes and procedures of how to react to a hypothetical scenario of cybernetic actions, and refine the work and coordination actions between all the entities that are part of the Defense System and of Cybersecurity.
For his part, the director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic, Victor Muñoz, assured that this cybernetic response drill is part of the country’s security strategy, through which it has been possible to identify and counteract incidents in the area of digital security once morest entities of the Colombian State that, during 2021, registered 321 incidents, and 8 so far in 2022.
What the Government seeks with this type of exercise is to strengthen the guarantee of protection of the technological infrastructures of the Colombian State, as well as to improve the confidentiality and integrity of digital information.
Finally, Minister Molano recalled that Colombia has been building robust Cybersecurity systems over the years, referring to the Joint Cyber Command of the Military Forces and the Cyber Center of the National Police, and warned that this is a guarantee of preparation by the Government of President Duque in the face of possible cyber threats.
President Iván Duque assured last Tuesday that the Colombian electoral system is “prepared, ready” for the legislative votes, in which the presidential candidates of three coalitions will also be elected.
“The Colombian electoral system is prepared, enlisted, for this day that we will have next March 13. All this electoral material will be displayed in the territory, it will reach all the tables, and Colombians will fully and freely exercise the right to elect and be elected,” said Duque.
The president visited, together with the registrar Alexander Vega, two warehouses of the Electoral Operational Center (CODI) of the National Registry, where the electoral kits for the elections are made. Duque stressed that the visit to CODI is important to get to know the entire technological and logistical operation on the ground “which guarantees that on March 13 we will have an absolutely transparent, absolutely fast electoral feat.”
He also valued the investment that has been made in cybersecurity for the timely detection of attacks, as well as the ability to respond to any threat to data transmission.
“Today we have seen not only an important investment, but also a contingency center that has nothing to envy to any of the most sophisticated in the world,” he said.
“The logistics organization arranged today will allow the delivery of information, of pre-count data, to be faster and faster,” he added. The CODI handles the logistics, traceability and preparation process of the 112,897 electoral kits that will be distributed in 12,635 polling stations for the date of the elections.
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