International cyber agencies met to discuss how democracies can help defend communities at a higher risk of being targeted online at a meeting co-chaired by the head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron and the director of the United States’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jen Easterly held the strategic dialogue with leaders from six other countries to discuss the threat of transnational repression facing certain civil society groups around the world.

Earlier this year, the participating countries – Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the UK and the US – committed to identifying ways to support the cybersecurity of these communities in the face of authoritarian government increasingly using cyber means to target them.

Communities identified as being at higher risk include individuals working in politics, including elected officials such as MPs, journalists, academics, lawyers, dissidents, and those sanctioned by foreign states.

The dialogue, which has been set up by CISA as part of its High-Risk Community Protection initiative, saw participants brief about their existing efforts to protect civil society groups online, exchange insights into the threat landscape and agree to continue collaborating

“Protecting civil society from cyber threats is vital so it can continue its important work upholding our democratic values in the UK and around the world,” Lindy Cameron, Chief Executive of the NCSC, said.

“The NCSC with CISA and international partners have reaffirmed our commitment to support at-risk communities to bolster their cyber security in the face of a heightened threat of transnational repression.

“This strategic dialogue is the latest step we are taking to defend our democracy and improve our collective cyber resilience against online harms.”

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Security minister Tom Tugendhat added: “Over the past year we’ve seen concerted attempts by foreign powers to intimidate, harass and harm communities here in the UK.

“An increasingly connected online world grants them new opportunities to intimidate journalists and dissidents who are resident beyond their borders.

“This dialogue brings together the best minds in cyber to discuss how we can strengthen the online security of at-risk communities – which is vital to maintaining the free speech and scrutiny that repressive regimes so clearly fear.”

The NCSC highlighted how commercial cyber intrusion tools – or spyware – have almost certainly been used by some states in the targeting of individuals such as journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and opponents and foreign government officials.

The participants in the first dialogue have agreed to meet in the future to continue addressing the challenges of transnational repression.