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Polish president urges greater cybersecurity amid pandemic

03.09.2021 23:30
Poland's President Andrzej Duda on Friday urged stepped-up investment in digitisation and greater cybersecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Audio
President Andrzej Duda speaks at the CyberSec European cybersecurity conference in the southern Polish mountain resort of Krynica-Zdrój on Friday.
President Andrzej Duda speaks at the CyberSec European cybersecurity conference in the southern Polish mountain resort of Krynica-Zdrój on Friday.Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

The coronavirus health crisis has shown the potential of digitisation and the need for increased cybersecurity, Duda told an international conference in southern Poland.

The growth of cyberspace is one of humanity's greatest current challenges, he said at the CyberSec European cybersecurity forum in the Polish mountain resort of Krynica-Zdrój.

Highlighting the key benefits of digitisation, from remote working to swift communication and data transmission, Duda emphasised that information technology systems must be made more secure.

"This is crucial for the safety of all of us—our borders, our economy, our citizens," he said.

"And so it is vital that we develop cybersecurity measures which will allow us to respond to, and prevent, the threats springing up on the internet," the president added.

He noted that NATO in 2016 recognised cyberspace as a theatre of armed operations which require strategic defence.

Meanwhile, the European Union has in recent years "indicated that ensuring cybersecurity is of top importance to the bloc," the president also said.

He urged NATO and the EU to work together and "align their views" on how to make cyberspace safe and accelerate the growth of digital technology.

Duda also told the conference that boosting cybersecurity was among the priorities of the Three Seas Initiative, a Polish-led regional drive by European countries between the Black, Baltic and Adriatic Seas.

He predicted that "digital transformation will be the main driver of the economic upturn" as the world emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

Held since 2015 by the Kościuszko Institute, a think tank and research institute based in the southern Polish city of Kraków, CyberSec is a leading cybersecurity conference in Europe, according to organizers.

It annually brings together participants from Poland's public and private sectors, officials and academics and as well as foreign experts.

This year, the event's key motto was "Towards a Values-based Digital World."

(pm/gs)

Source: PAPprezydent.pl

Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.