The NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency signed an Industry Partnership Agreement (IPA) on cyber information sharing with Proximus on Feb. 16, NATO said Feb. 17.
This is the tenth in a series of agreements between NATO and industry partners that aims to improve their abilities to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber threats quickly. This IPA will encourage timely information sharing of cyber threats, NATO said.
At the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, alliance leaders stressed the importance of information sharing and industry partnerships to address cyber challenges using the NATO Industry Cyber Partnership (NICP). NATO heads of state and government endorsed the NICP in 2014 as a tool of collaboration.
The IPA with Proximus will facilitate quick and early bilateral exchanges of non-classified technical information related to cyber threats and vulnerabilities. The information will be integrated into the NCI Agency’s 24/7 detection and prevention processes to enhance the alliance’s cyber security posture, NATO said.
“Through our information-sharing programme, hundreds of indicators of compromise (IOC) have been shared between NATO and our Industry partners, and the pace of exchanges continues to grow. As a company that is forward-leaning on the creation of information exchange platforms to foster new solutions for the digital age, Proximus will be a valuable partner on cyber defence through our IPA framework,” Koen Gijsbers, general manager of the NCI Agency, said in a statement.
“Today’s threat actors are global and sophisticated cyber threats are rapidly increasing. In such context, trustworthy collaboration between major players is key. That’s why this cyber partnership between NATO and Proximus will help both organizations to better protect their customers and critical infrastructure,” Dominique Leroy, CEO of Proximus, added.