The Joint Cyberspace Command advocates for building resilience against cross-cutting cyber threats to critical infrastructure

• The Deputy Chief of Operations of the Defence Staff of the MCCE, Captain Carlos Garau, participated in the 34th AUTELSI Congress

Captain Carlos Garau Pérez-Crespo, Deputy Chief of Operations on the Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE) General Staff, participated in the roundtable discussion “How to Protect the Country? Resilience, Cybersecurity, Critical Infrastructure, and Defense,’ held as part of the 34th Congress organized by AUTELSI (Spanish Association of Telecommunications and Information Society Users) in Seville.

In the field of cyber defense, Captain Garau emphasized the need to strengthen coordination and preparedness among all stakeholders. To achieve this, he noted that response protocols, information sharing, and joint exercises are essential: “What is not planned or practiced does not exist,” he stated.

In light of the increase in cyberattacks driven by autonomous artificial intelligence systems, he has deemed it essential to automate prevention, detection, and response through clear, predefined rules. However, he has specified that this automation must be subject to human oversight whenever there is an impact on the physical environment or on people, or whenever there is a risk of escalating the conflict.

Regarding the system’s resilience, CN Garau noted that the debate on technological autonomy is important. However, it considered it more important to organize a network without critical dependencies, which can be achieved through supplier diversification and the use of alternative solutions. “The key is not to outsource knowledge,” it concluded. 

The panel discussion was moderated by Javier Jiménez Pajares, CEO of Extreme Networks Iberia, and also featured remarks by Lieutenant General José María Millán Martínez, director of CESTIC; Major General Leonardo Sánchez Peláez, Chief of Staff of the Civil Guard; and Rear Admiral Manuel Alvargonzález Méndez, Chief of Information Systems and Telecommunications for the Navy.