The Ministers for Digital Transformation and Public Service and Interior Affairs, Óscar López and Fernando Grande-Marlaska, respectively, have today signed a statement of intent to promote the cybersecurity training of Civil Guard professionals. Both headlines have highlighted the need to provide this group with the training tools necessary to deal with the growing cyber threats that occur in the current scenario.
“Our commitment to digitally train Spain also involves training those who ensure the security of our citizens, it involves investing in the essential security force of the State that represents the Civil Guard,” said Óscar López.
The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service has emphasized his department’s commitment to training in digitization. His ministry has invested more than 3.7 billion euros, from European funds, in the National Digital Skills Plan. An initiative that has benefited more than 1.6 million people in Spain.
“There is no digital transformation possible without powerful digital training. That is why the Government of Spain is committed to training in areas such as microelectronics, Artificial Intelligence, quantum or cybersecurity,” he added.
Óscar López has also recalled other initiatives in his portfolio in the field of higher education. Among them have been the Cybersecurity Chairs, endowed with more than 21 million euros, the CHIP Chairs, which have had a funding of 45 million, the ENIA, worth 16 million euros or the almost 400 research grants in AI that it finances Red.es with 120 million euros of investment. “The results are already here, professionals from all over the world request a place in our centers of excellence. The latest Global Report on AI from the University of Standford places Spain in the top 5 in the world of training in ICT graduates.”
For his part, Grande-Marlaska stressed the importance of joining “two highly prestigious public institutions and putting the best of each one” with the aim of “preparing ourselves more and better in the defense of our security and of the society to which we belong and to which we serve”.
“The increasingly sophisticated and complex threats in the virtual world force all institutions, both public and private, to make an added effort to acquire the necessary training and be able to neutralize these risks. Faced with new challenges, new solutions”, said the minister during his speech.
Grande-Marlaska has highlighted the “forceful” reaction of the government to stop cybercrime, with the approval in 2021 of a strategic plan that contained a battery of economic measures, prevention and reinforcement of workforce.
“Four years later, that effort is paying off,” said the minister, who recalled the decline in cybercrime in 2024, for the first time since 2016, with a 1.4 percent reduction in cybercrime compared to 2023. “After years of steady growth, this figure shows that it is possible to stand up to cybercrime, with work, dedication and training,” he added.
This new initiative presented today consists of a training program aimed at the members of the Civil Guard to respond to the new threats and challenges of the digital environment. The offer is aimed at continuous and specialized training in digital security, forensic analysis, incident management and cyberthreat prevention.
The training will be provided by INCIBE, which is attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, in collaboration with UNED.
More than 97,000 cybersecurity incidents in 2024
According to the latest data published, INCIBE managed more than 97,000 cybersecurity incidents in 2024. Among the most frequent are malwares, including viruses and other malicious software, online fraud such as phishing, intrusions and attempts at unauthorized access to information from networks or computer systems and incidents of fraudulent online stores. About two thirds of the threats recorded affected the citizens, compared to one third that were directed to companies.