Advance counter terrorism for lebanon security

Terms of Reference

Title of the assignment

Technical training on the establishment of a Cyber Threat Intelligence Centre – Follow-up

1 - General context and objectives

A continuous dialogue between the European Union and Lebanon has been focussing, for several years, on security and counter-terrorism. Aligned with the European Neighbourhood Policy and the European Union Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, an agreed roadmap addresses the areas of counter-terrorism, justice and law enforcement, countering terrorism financing and violent extremism, among others.

The project “Advance Counter Terrorism for Lebanon security” (2020-2023), led by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), aims at reinforcing national capacities in Lebanon to react to the threats of terrorism and organized crime while promoting rule of law and human rights, in line with international standards.

Three specific objectives are pursued:

SO 1: To strengthen the regulatory framework and national response against terrorism in line with international standards. This includes supporting counter-terrorism interagency coordination.

SO 2: To enhance protection and response against terrorism through an improved cybersecurity national system.

SO 3: To apply a rights based approach to CT/VE cases by law enforcement officials and Courts. This includes strengthening a lawful collection of evidences to be legally used before the Court.

The digitalisation of society translates the challenges of terrorism and organized crime into the cyberspace. Therefore, the project counts as its specific objective 2 to enhance protection and response against terrorism and crime through an improved cybersecurity national system.

In close relation with the Lebanese National Coordination for the project, key stakeholders include officials from the Lebanese Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), such as the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the Internal Security Forces (ISF), the General Security (GS) and the State Security (SS) as well as civil servants of various ministries and public authorities in charge of supervising critical infrastructure operators, in sectors such as Defence, Interior, Telecommunications, Banking, Health and so forth. Besides, Parliamentary Committees, representatives of the National Human Rights Commission and members of Civil Society Organizations will count amongst regular counterparts as well. Finally, partnerships with private companies and Universities will be highly promoted.

Two results are expected in the domain of cybersecurity: the enhancement of national capacity to prevent and counter cyber-terrorism and cyber-organized crime, on the one hand, and the enhancement of a general awareness on cybersecurity and cybercrime, on the other hand.

Prevention and protection against terrorism and crime

Cyber risk prevention is above all an inter-ministerial policy aimed at the protection and resilience of critical infrastructure. So, building prevention capacity at the national level requires the initiation of a continuous endeavour, based on an effective collaboration of the capacities held by the LEAs as well as by the most capable economic sectors (telecom, banking, etc.) and finally relying on the academic skills of the university actors and on the encouraging initiatives of innovative digital companies in Lebanon. This effort designs the following activity axes:

• Ability to observe reality (Surveillance probes and Security Operating Centres), in line with the rule of law and in accordance with considerations of proportionality and respect for citizens privacy,
• Generation of knowledge (Cyber Threat Intelligence), by improving coordination between state agencies dotted with investigative resources,
• Translation of this knowledge into guidelines and regulations: these guidelines could consist in mandatory security rules for critical infrastructure operators as well as they could be designed to be delivered more widely, incentivizing security enhancement within voluntary beneficiaries or towards the general population.