US-built center in Cyprus helps cyber security in the region

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that A U.S.-funded center in Cyprus will help train officials from countries in the eastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East on the latest techniques in border, customs, maritime and cybersecurity.

To protect key infrastructure

Chad Wolf said the $5 million Cyprus Center for Land, Open-Seas, and Port Security (CYCLOPS) will incorporate a mobile facility to instruct officials on how to best protect their key infrastructure and take part in cross-border cyber investigations. The center that will also include a mock land border crossing and a passenger screening area is expected to be completed by year’s end.

Chad Wolf told a ceremony marking the start of the center’s construction, saying,

“These training platforms will serve as a hub that works in close coordination and association with partner countries in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and elsewhere. The center will mirror a similar facility that the U.S. State Department has maintained in Central America for over a decade. The center is an important result of a renewed American engagement in the Eastern Mediterranean region and of the strong relationship between the United States and Republic of Cyprus.”

Cyprus and the U.S. have forged closer security links in recent years, culminating in the 2019 congressional approval of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy and Security Partnership Act that underscores U.S. support for an energy-based partnership between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.