Together on cyber security - KGHM signed a letter of intent with the Cyber Defense Forces

Training, practical exercises in the areas of cyber security and IT, as well as exchange of experience and expertise - KGHM has signed a letter of intent to cooperate with the Ministry of Defense, represented by the Command of the Cyberspace Defense Forces Component. The activities will be coordinated by a specialized division of KGHM, the Central Information Processing Center (COPI).

Cyber security is an important area of operation for companies that are of key importance to national economies, but also for the government, medical services, the police, and the military. KGHM, as a mining and smelting company operating in several cities in Poland and with foreign assets on several continents, has an extensive ICT infrastructure that ensures continuity of operations and takes care of, among other things, the safety of employees underground and on the ground surface, requiring the company to have security provided on a 24-hour basis.

“In the national cyber security system, the Polish Military is a key element in the context of activities and projects responsible for cyber defense. Cooperation in this field is an opportunity for KGHM to strengthen a system capable of countering modern threats in the Internet and beyond. We look forward to close cooperation between our specialists and military experts,” said Tomasz Zdzikot, the CEO of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. 

“Cooperation in the field of cyber security is crucial in combating increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. Organizations, government institutions, corporations, and services need to share information about threats and best practices to effectively defend against cyber attacks. I am confident that our cooperation will bring tangible benefits to both parties and will contribute to building a cyber-secure future,” added Major General Karol Molenda, the commander of the Cyberspace Defense Forces Component.

The primary purpose of the letter of intent is cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and KGHM with the objective of raising the level of cyber security of the Republic of Poland. The parties will exchange their experiences and knowledge in the field of cyber security. Among other things, promotional activities on this matter and joint security projects are planned.

The parties also intend to organize joint training courses on incident response and to conduct analyses on cyber security activities.

The Cyberspace Defense Forces (CDF) are a specialized component of the armed forces that is responsible for ensuring security in the so-called operational domain which includes - besides water, land, air, and space - also cyberspace. The CDF have the capability to carry out the full spectrum of operations - defensive, reconnaissance, and offensive. The Command of the CDF Component is responsible in the Ministry of Defense for areas related to cryptology, cyber security, and the construction and operation of IT systems.

The key tasks of the CDF are to ensure the ICT security of the entire ministry, to conduct research, design, build, implement, use, and protect national cryptologic technologies, and to produce new products for the state by uniting the scientific and industrial potentials in the area of advanced information and cryptographic technologies. The Command of the Cyberspace Defense Forces Component also conducts scientific and educational, implementation, research and development, and evaluating activities.

KGHM has been organizing a Cyber Field Training for companies in the energy and mining sectors since 2022. The Cyber Field Training serves to prepare teams from individual companies for cyber threats. Attack scenarios are prepared for the participants, which require a quick response and decisions crucial to the organizations concerned. The training provides an opportunity to apply the participants’ experiences and to learn new solutions.

KGHM’s division, the Central Information Processing Center, is running an educational program called “Copper’s Digital Future,” which focuses on topics related to digitization, cyber security, and the development of modern technologies. The project is intended for students of secondary schools - technical secondary schools with classes with an IT profile and high schools with science profiles - who are potential future IT students. Eight schools from the Copper Belt and the Lubuskie Province have already declared their willingness to cooperate with KGHM.