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Raising the Political Priority of Cybersecurity in Latin America
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from Net Politics and Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program
RAISING THE POLITICAL PRIORITY OF CYBERSECURITY IN LATIN AMERICA
Latin American has some bright spots when it comes to cybersecurity, but
progress has been inconsistent. Governments and regional bodies need to do more
to coordinate and increase visibility around cyber threats in Latin America.
Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro
heads a session at the OAS 52nd General Assembly in Lima, Peru in October 2022.
Angela Ponce/Reuters
Blog Post by Louise Marie Hurel and Joe Devanny, Guest Contributors
March 16, 2023 12:01 pm (EST)
Print Email
As George Orwell might have said, when it comes to understanding the impact of
cyber threats in different parts of the world: all regions are equal, but some
are more equal than others. No region can afford to be complacent about cyber
threats from criminals, “hacktivists,” or hostile states. Developing countries
such as those in Latin America are expected to respond effectively to cyber
threats, but so far the global cybersecurity debate has neglected some of the
structural factors that make this difficult.
While cybersecurity in the region made headlines last year, after a pair of
ransomware attacks on Costa Rica crippled the country’s medical, government, and
commercial systems, too often the issue does not get the attention it
deserves–both internationally and across the region. Recent reporting about an
alleged ransomware attack suffered by the government of Saint Kitts and Nevis
demonstrates that the problem isn’t going away.
More on:
Cybersecurity
Latin America
Structural barriers to a global conversation
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There are at least three reasons why the region is overlooked. First, there are
few incentives for threat intelligence companies to prioritize Latin America
over larger markets. Second, there is a tendency in cybersecurity to focus only
on high-visibility threat actors, rather than emerging ones. Third, disparities
in development across the region mean that the cybersecurity needs of different
countries can vary significantly.
These and other factors combine to produce an incomplete picture of threats and
vulnerabilities in Latin America–all of which adds to the lack of political
notoriety the agenda has received regionally. While technical cooperation has
indeed increased through activities at Latin America and Caribbean Internet
Address Registry (LACNIC), Organization of American States (OAS) and others,
political initiatives remain ad-hoc and country-based. If Latin America is to
take cybersecurity seriously, it needs to invest in a concerted dialogue for
sustainable development with cyber at the heart of it. But dealing with
structural challenges will also require better understanding of the threat
landscape both from within and outside the region.
How can we raise the profile and political priority of cybersecurity in the
region despite these barriers? What should countries in Latin America (and
others) do to improve cybersecurity and resilience?
Cyber insecurity in Latin America
More on:
Cybersecurity
Latin America
The fact is that the region faces many of the same cyber threats as others,
ranging from apparently global hackers-for-hire to groups more ostensibly
aligned to the interests of specific states with strategic interests in the
region. This is unsurprising, as the region’s relatively peaceful inter-state
relations do not reduce the perennial temptation of states to spy on each
other–and, as recent history has shown, on their citizens.
It is neither new nor rare for Latin America’s governmental and other sectors to
be targeted in cyberspace. Threat actors have been operating in the region for
many years now–both those that originate from the region and those based outside
it. Chinese and North Korean groups have been targeting the region’s
governments, nongovernmental organizations, and private companies reportedly
since 2017–and other groups such as Dark Caracal and El Machete have reportedly
been active in the region since at least the early 2010s.
And yet, unlike more developed countries, many of the region’s governments are
ill-prepared and under-resourced to deal with the growing costs and wider
impacts of these incidents.
A very public example of the inadequacy of current governmental safeguards was
the widely-reported Guacamaya hack-and-leak campaign in October 2022. This
campaign targeted several defense and security institutions throughout Latin
America, including revelations about a large surveillance program run by the
Mexican government. The apparent ability of so-called ‘hacktivists’ to break
into what should have been highly-secure defense and national security systems
demonstrated that governments and citizens alike are vulnerable in this domain.
More can and should be done, systematically, to integrate existing knowledge and
expertise within the region to counter cyber insecurity.
Progress in adversity
The Organization of American States (OAS) was the first regional body in the
world to start developing a cyber strategy, in 2003. It remains a key player in
regional cybersecurity capacity-building and an important point of contact for
donor states, non-profits, and others to contribute to cybersecurity initiatives
in Latin America. But implementing a coordinated approach to improving
cybersecurity is hard enough domestically, let alone at the regional or global
level–especially in a region with such varying levels of digitalisation and
development.
Fast forward two decades since the region’s first cybersecurity efforts and it
is still grappling with institutional and political barriers to enhancing
cybersecurity. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI): twenty eight countries in the region provided
no incentives to improve private sector cybersecurity (only Africa ranked lower
regionally); seventeen countries lacked a national cybersecurity strategy that
addressed critical infrastructure and resilience; and fourteen countries lacked
a national computer incident response team.
Some progress has been made, but outcomes are very uneven. Brazil has jumped
from 70th to 18th in the ITU GCI, after having passed a data protection law,
established a data protection authority, and developed a national cyber
strategy. Other countries in the region, however, such as Bolivia (140th) and
Nicaragua (165th), slid even further down the other end of the table. And, as
repeated hacks of public and private sector networks in Brazil demonstrate,
neither institutional nor policy developments are in themselves sufficient to
protect citizens and consumers from cybercrime.
As incidents like the ransomware attacks on Costa Rica’s government systems have
demonstrated in the last year, not only are there still severe capacity gaps
that leave countries in the region exposed to serious threats, but the region
also features increasingly prominently as a target.
Latin American countries’ pathways to cyber resilience are far from linear.
Despite challenges, they have nonetheless reaffirmed their commitments to norms
for responsible state behavior in cyberspace, nine of them acceded to the
Budapest convention that enhances mechanisms for transnational cooperation in
fighting cybercrime, and OAS member states have agreed on a series of Cyber
Confidence Building Measures since 2017 that seek to promote greater exchange of
information on initiatives and incidents from across the region.
These initiatives are commendable and welcome, but also insufficient to the
challenge. The region’s continuing trend of major governmental cyber crises is
strong evidence that coordinated effort at the national and regional levels must
be intensified. Part of the solution is to better understand what has worked–and
what has obstructed further progress–in the region’s 20 years of cyber
capacity-building experience.
Getting priorities straight
Latin America cannot solve its cyber insecurity on its own, nor should it face
it alone. The region’s most cyber-capable countries, such as Brazil and Chile,
should embrace a more active leadership role improving regional cybersecurity
cooperation, including through the OAS as the region’s pre-eminent cyber
capacity-building forum. Welcome initiatives would include more integrated
threat-information sharing and incident response assistance, as well as better
inclusion of the region’s non-profits and local companies in the field. There
are global networks of expertise and assistance, but raising the political
prioritisation of cybersecurity must start within the region itself and be
sustained with strategic patience.
Beyond governmental efforts, think tanks and academia should develop a public
repository of incidents, bibliographies–such as the one produced by the Latin
American Cybersecurity Research Network–and bring the region’s existing
expertise into wider global conversations in cooperation with other sectors.
These would be the next steps in raising the profile and real-world impact of
cyber research produced in Latin America.
The region stands to benefit significantly from expanding digital access and
skills. That is true in social interaction, economic activity, and the provision
of public services. But improved cybersecurity must be an integral feature of
this process, or else the darker side of cyber insecurity will continue to
blight the region’s citizens, consumers, companies, and governments. Closing the
region’s cybersecurity gaps will require re-invigorated governmental leadership,
but it will only succeed through coordinated effort with other stakeholders, and
deeper cyber awareness amongst policymakers, legislators, companies, and civil
society.
Louise Marie Hurel is a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute
for Security and Defense (RUSI), PhD Researcher at the London School of
Economics and Political Science, and founder of the Latin American Cybersecurity
Research Network (LA/CS Net).
Dr. Joe Devanny is a Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College
London and currently a British Academy Innovation Fellow.
The views expressed in the article are solely the authors’ and do not
necessarily reflect the viewpoints or opinions of organizations they are
affiliated with.
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