Chile advances cybercrime legislation

Chile is making good progress on cybersecurity legislation compared to its neighbors, but must remain flexible to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of cybercrime, local experts said Monday.

"Chile is advancing more quickly than countries like Brazil and Mexico, which due to their size and political structure take longer to make progress," Ghassan Dreibi, cybersecurity leader for Latin America at Cisco Systems, told BNamericas on the sidelines of a cybersecurity seminar at the nation's congress in Valparaíso.

"Chile is on the right path," commented Robert Ivanschitz, Microsoft Latin America associate general counsel for corporate external legal affairs. "If you don't have updated laws, you can't attack a target that is constantly evolving."

Gabriel Bergel, the local representative of Dreamlab Technologies, told BNamericas: "Last year we didn't have a cybersecurity plan, which today we do have. The defense ministry will be in charge of critical infrastructure, the interior ministry in charge of public entities. There is still a lot to do but we're on the right path."

CYBER PLAN

In 2017, the government of then-president Michelle Bachelet approved a cybercrime national policy, establishing 41 measures with a focus on five key objectives: critical infrastructure; legislation; education of the population; international collaboration; and improved security in the private sector.

That cybersecurity drive is being continued by President Sebastián Piñera who created the position of national cybersecurity advisor, appointing Jorge Atton. The attack on Banco de Chile, in which US$10mn were stolen, has provided a renewed urgency to speed up efforts.

Over the last few months, Atton has met with cybersecurity representatives from the Organization of American States, with security experts from governments including that of Israel, the UK, the US and Spain. Locally, Atton has spoken with retailers, power distributors, the financial sector and academics.

Concrete steps include modifying the outdated cybercrimes law by introducing stiffer criminal penalties in accordance with the Budapest Convention on cybercrime, which Chile has signed but not yet implemented.

The government will introduce a critical infrastructure security protection law establishing minimum norms of ICT protection for providers of energy, telecommunications, water and other infrastructure.

Coordination of a national cybersecurity system will fall to the interior ministry and a national contingency team will be created to deal with cyber emergencies.

A large focus will be put on human resources, training police specialists and extending information sharing under the Budapest Convention.

Ultimately, a cybersecurity bill is due to be sent to congress in February.

PUBLIC, PRIVATE COOPERATION

Hugo Maldonado, head of the Valparaíso cybercrime branch of Chile's investigative police unit PDI, underscored the importance of implementing the Budapest Convention in helping police forces combat cybercrime, which extends beyond national borders.

"Budapest enables us to be on the same legislative level as other countries when tackling cybercrime. We can talk to them, share information and pool resources," Maldonado told BNamericas.

Maldonado also emphasized the importance of constant training of officers and of working with the private sector to access the latest technology resources. The PDI is working with a Japanese ICT company using its facial recognition platform and with Huawei to develop joint strategies.

Last year, the Chilean attorney general's office signed a collaboration agreement with Microsoft to provide consulting on the use of technological tools including Microsoft's PhotoDNA technology, which is primarily used in the prevention of child pornography.

John Knies, chief information security officer with IP communications provider CenturyLink, recommends a technology neutral approach to fighting cybercrime. "If you take a specific technology approach, or vendor approach, sometimes it is already outdated before legislation is introduced. You have to be as nimble and flexible as the criminals," he told BNamericas.