Cybersecurity. For most people, a distant story. A subject that interests only computer geeks and system administrators. But what if 'the whole of KPN is down, or the data of thousands of hospital patients is out on the street, or even operations cannot go ahead because computers stopped working.'
Then Leiden is in trouble. Cyber Central, a foundation set up by Cisco, DearBytes, KPN and McAfee, wants to take internet security out of the ICT sphere and get it between everyone's ears. It is not a problem of IT professionals alone. It is a problem of all of us. Became. The foundation aims for every internet user to realise that the world - and starting with the Netherlands - needs to become safer digitally. And that computers and networks are properly secured against hackers, against phishing and other ways in which data can be stolen or manipulated from the outside. Internet security is necessary for everyone. On 5 October, the need for cybersecurity was made clear at the RDM Innovation Dock.
The new gold
Jurjen Lengkeek, founder of RDM Makerspace told the introductory talk: "Data is the new gold. Using data is becoming increasingly important in making products. And companies should not be scared off by Big Data. The computing power of computers is increasing, so the need to properly secure all the data being produced is also growing. That is why we established Cyber Central."
The fact that the Rotterdam port around the corner had been shut down for over a week shortly before because of the Petya hack seemed to add to the urgency. The damage from that attack is still unquantified. But what is clear is that its effects were felt worldwide.
André Beerten, an ex-KPN employee who now works at the Groene Hart Hospital in Gouda, gave a presentation on a typical hack. Too bad most of his presentation was missing the picture. A technical glitch. You would almost start to think the place had been hacked....
The crux of his argument was that human action is almost always the cause of an intrusion into a computer system. Because how does a hacker access and get a hold of a system? Through the vulnerability of a backup agent, for example, which allowed things to be taken over. That should be looked out for by employees (people...). Detect when something goes wrong, react to signals of abuse. Reports need to be dealt with. Response protocols have to be implemented. All human work. But those people must be given room to fix things.
Types of cyber attackers
We saw another presentation by Mark de Groot, team leader of the REDteam at KPN. This team, consisting so-called ethical hackers, scans computer systems for vulnerabilities and potential weaknesses. Mark, who will soon be a participant in the Cyberlympics again, gave an overview of the types of attackers and attacks. After all, not all hackers are out for trouble, but when you know that those who are are nowadays on the internet just offer an internet attack for sale. Then you know that it is actually quite extraordinary that there have been no really big terrorist hacking attacks so far. Knock off. When hacks are analysed in retrospect, it becomes clear that you could often have seen them coming six months in advance. And a hack can take hold of a computer system for years.
What Cyber Central wants to achieve is to get cybersecurity in the minds of everyone. They do this through workshops, both technical and non-technical. And interactive simulations for managers who want to test their cybersecurity decisions. In doing so, the foundation, which has no profit as its goal, strives for more cooperation between market players, exchange of information and best practices and fight cybercrime more effectively.
A hack can be achieved very simply. For example, by giving a USB stick as a gift. Because such a stick is not only a storage medium, it can also run programmes. These become active the moment they are plugged into a laptop or PC. And then manipulate the software in such a way as to cause gigantic damage. Don't think: that won't happen to me. When I attended another meeting a week after Cyber Central's presentation, I was given a goody bag to take home when I left. One of the items in the bag was a usb stick. I still haven't used it.
By: Janet Kooren
