With the Acyma plan, Anssi and the Ministry of the Interior are tackling cyber-maliciousness

In the making since June 2015, the implementation of the website piloted by the State and Anssi intended for individuals as well as VSEs and SMEs/SMIs to easily find information in the event of a computer attack is finally coming out of the ground. On the occasion of a press conference organized at the FIC (international cybercrime forum) on Wednesday January 25, the Secretary of State for digital Axelle Lemaire, the ministerial delegate for security industries and the fight against cyber threats Thierry Delville as well as the general manager of Anssi Guillaume Poupard unveiled Acyma. This mysterious name, the teasing of which was skilfully orchestrated by Guillaume Poupard, hides an action plan against cyber-maliciousness which turns out to be simple but which aims to be effective.

“SMEs are in the line of fire and some are going out of business following computer attacks,” explained the director general of Ansii. “The idea is to set up an assistance device, a pragmatic solution, allowing people to find viable online help to diagnose that they are victims and to identify the small services to diagnose that they are victims. , reinstall their computers and give advice. Created through a GIP (public interest grouping), Acyma will give birth within two months to an online site allowing individual users or small businesses to concretely access this range of information and services. A link to file a complaint following a computer attack will also be offered.

Self-regulation to separate the good from the bad

“It is a question of providing citizens, TME-SMEs and craftsmen victims of attacks such as ransomware with elements of answers, diagnosis and orientation and if there is reason to allow them to file a complaint”, specifies Thierry Delville. . Incubated by Anssi and endowed with an operating budget of 1 million euros, the platform should then be able to finance itself. “We are giving ourselves a year to identify the private actors who will take part in the adventure”, indicates Guillaume Poupard who hopes to make this fight against cyber-maliciousness a great national cause. In addition to the civil servants who will come to supply Acyma with information and ensure its proper functioning, the Ministry of the Interior also intends to mobilize the Cybergend network as well as the thousand specialized experts from the Police to provide local assistance to victims of cyber attacks.

In order to repair, recover lost data but also keep evidence, citizens and businesses will be able to call on a local IT partner listed in a directory. To be present in this directory, these partners will first have to show their credentials, even if in fact they will only have to sign a “commitment charter” which has not yet been revealed. Neither the ministry nor Anssi, however, have the intention of separating the wheat from the chaff in the rain of service providers of all kinds who will eventually flourish on Acyma. For this, the latter rely on self-regulation and a rating system to report on the effectiveness of their advice and services. “They commit to the site, describe their missions and the target audience. There is no state filter, it’s like a directory then evaluated by customers,” confirms Thierry Delville. Let’s hope that the evaluations will remain objective by avoiding any act of denigration of competition, unless a new platform makes it possible to collect this type of complaint…