White House deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger announced Wednesday that the US government will provide $25 million in assistance to Costa Rica over two years to strengthen cyber security in the country.
In May 2022, Costa Rica was targeted by cyber attacks by a Russia-based group known as Conti. During the incident, the group attacked 30 national institutions such as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, Labor and Finance.
In the latter, they gained access to the country’s tax and foreign trade declarations, which led to the paralysis of the collection systems and the suspension of the payment of salaries of public employees. One month after the cyberattacks, in which criminals requested up to $20 million to release the seized information, President Rodrigo Chaves declared a national state of emergency.
“We have reached this commitment, because we saw the scale of criminal cyberattacks against Costa Rica. We saw President Chaves declare a state of emergency and make this request. Because Costa Rica is a truly valued partner and friend of the US, we are stepping up to fulfill this commitment to help bring in resources that increase their technical expertise and ensure that both the people of Costa Rica and the government can operate in safely,” Neuberger said.
The current assignment, he added, seeks to cover three aspects of recovery in Costa Rica. First, they will build a security operations center within the country that will work with the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Communications to detect, prevent and respond to cyber attacks.
“The Security Operations Center will also coordinate between those departments and agencies at work and address any potential cyber threats against the government or critical infrastructure,” the official explained.
Funding will include cybersecurity training, technical support, and licenses for cyber protection programs.
Neuberger assured that evaluated data suggest that in “many countries” the cost of being a victim of a ransomware, the type of malware used to hijack information, can run from tens of millions to billions of dollars. “Recovering from that, from a company or a government being unable to operate, is a very significant cost.”
“These cyber security grants really build on the US government’s security assistance to Costa Rica as a valued ally and partner and certainly a valued friend. As well as sharing best practices to guarantee a secure digital infrastructure”, added Neuberger.
In addition, it was announced that Costa Rica requested to join the US Global Initiative Against Ransomware, a program that includes 36 countries in order to “work on concrete actions to protect our citizens and companies from cybercriminals.”
Both announcements were made within the framework of the Summit for Democracy, in which Costa Rica participates as one of the four co-host countries.
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