Latin American governments strengthen cybersecurity frameworks
Latin American governments strengthen cybersecurity frameworks
Publish Date: 2026-01-12 13:51:00
Source Domain: www.bnamericas.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. Latin America is seeing an increase in cybersecurity maturity as governments in the region move forward with the development of policies and strategies, regulatory frameworks, and investment in threat response centers, in response to an increasingly complex risk environment. According to a recent analysis by Moody’s, artificial intelligence is generating emerging risks linked to attackers’ ability to create AI-based malware and shorten the time needed to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. In November, Anthropic said that its AI model Claude was used to automate between 80% and 90% of a cyber-espionage campaign, intensifying the debate on cybersecurity at the global level. Latin American governments are emphasizing the need to have cybersecurity tools as a way to protect themselves against external and internal threats. After the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States, the person in charge of the government of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, presented a draft cybersecurity law to the National Assembly that promises to “prevent the global north from using its technology to attack and subjugate Venezuelan territory,” according to a statement from the Ministry of People’s Power for Interior Relations, Justice and Peace. The text of the bill is not available. In Argentina, a decree published in early January that amends the intelligence law creates the National Cybersecurity Center (CNC) as a decentralized body under the purview of the Secretariat of Innovation, Science and Technology of the Cabinet Chief of Ministers. The CNC will aim to plan, implement, and oversee cybersecurity policies, programs, and actions intended to protect cyberspace of national interest, critical information infrastructure, the national State’s strategic digital assets, and the technological systems used in the provision of essential public services and activities of the national public sector. The protection of critical infrastructure is one of the central pillars of cybersecurity policy in Chile. After a process of more than six months, the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANCI) published in December the first list of operators of vital importance (OIV), that is, those whose provision of services depends on computer networks and systems and whose impairment, interception, interruption, or destruction would have an impact on security and public order, on the delivery of essential services, or on the effective fulfillment of the functions of the State. ANCI identified 915 public and private organizations in critical sectors such as energy, telecommunications, digital services, the financial sector, health, and State administration as OIV. In Mexico, the Digital Transformation Agency (ATDT) also presented in December a national cybersecurity plan that envisages a new national policy and a federal framework that will include guidelines with mandatory measures, training for public servants and incident reports, among other regulations that will be published over the course of the year. According to the director general of cybersecurity, Heidy Rocha Ruiz, the plan “proposes an institutional architecture that responds to current geopolitical tensions, the sophistication of cybercrime, the cyber skills gap, and the incorporation of AI which, although it has increased digital crimes, is also a fundamental tool to counter this problem”. As part of Mexico’s cybersecurity plan, the ATDT indicated that a National Cybersecurity Operations Center (CNSOC), a National Incident Response Center (CSIRT), an inventory of critical infrastructure, and a vulnerability assessment program, among others, will be created. The IDB recorded three incident response centers in Mexico. The CSIRT-SEMAR-MX has nationwide scope and is located in the Ministry of the Navy, while the other two are military in scope and correspond to the Scientific General Directorate of the National Guard and the Ministry of National Defense. In Latin America and the Caribbean there are more than 50 operational computer incident response centers, both for military use and belonging to national states and government entities, according to a recent IDB report. (The original version of this content was written in Spanish)
