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A NEW PLAN to crackdown on cyber-crime, hacking and cyber-espionage has been published in a bid to protect the State.
The new National Cyber Security Strategy sets out how to ensure the State’s infrastructure and computer networks are “resilient, safe and secure”.
It contains proposals on how the Irish government can respond and manage cyber security incidents.
“We must ensure our critical national services – our hospitals, schools, enterprises, energy networks and security systems are protected from malicious online forces and are well placed to respond to threats,” said Communications Minister Richard Bruton.
TheJournal.ie previously reported that there have been several cyber attacks on government departments over the years, some of which never made it to the headlines.
Former Communications Minister Denis Naughten said the attacks occur quite frequently.
“There have been attacks in the past, they are quite frequent. Some of them hit the public airwaves, many more don’t. They come from various different sources across the globe and this is something we have to be continually vigilant on,” he said, speaking to this website in 2017 when he was still minister.
The most recent White Paper on defence published by the government also found that cyber threats were increasing.
The strategy published today also plans for how to manage any disruption to services as a result of such attacks, as well as developing the cyber-security sector here in Ireland.
Deliberate actions by organised groups, including other countries, who seek to subvert or compromise systems of the State for a range of reasons is a real threat, according to the report.
These attacks could take the form of theft or destruction of data or money and the physical disruption or destruction of services or infrastructure, it states.
One of the more challenging issues to emerge in recent years has been the active use and
refinement of hybrid threats, which the report states are the so-called “hack and leak” incidents.
The most common of which is the use of cyber tools to steal information for subsequent use in disinformation campaigns.
“By their nature, these campaigns are designed to be difficult to detect, and because of their explicitly political goals, even more difficult for public authorities to counteract.
“As an open liberal democracy, Ireland is vulnerable to campaigns of this type in much the same way as other EU Member States,” states the plan.
While dealing with national security issues, the plan also sets out how to educate citizens and businesses about how to protect themselves against cyber threats and fraud.
Cyber crime incidents in Ireland are increasing with 61% of Irish organisations reporting to have suffered cyber crime such as fraud in the last two years with an estimated loss on average of €3.1 million.
Bruton said that we live in an increasingly interconnected world, adding:
“Ireland has benefited hugely from the digital revolution but we need to make sure there are robust measures in place to protect our national infrastructure against the risks posed by new technology. Cyber-attacks, cybercrime and identity theft can wreak havoc in this connected world.”
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They can’t even measure a room before they put in a photocopier. So I’m not convinced about this cyber protection stuff!
@Patrick Agnew: Do you honestly think that the people involved with overseeing hardware procurement for the printing service in the Dáil building are the same people outlining nation strategy on cyber security?
Or are you just pretending to be thick to get some easy thumbs for that dopamine hit that you can’t get elsewhere because you’re a miserable, complainy git?
@Ajax Penumbra: it’s pretty obvious he’s drawing a comparative line through the public sector incompetence. Good lad, congrats on the cheap thumbs with your faux outrage.
@are those my shoes?: I hope your happy with those cheap thumbs earned with your faux outrage towards my faux outrage directed at the original faux outrage x
@Ajax Penumbra: did you not get enough turkey the other day?
@Ajax Penumbra: the PMO office would be responsible for putting a project manager in charge for both projects, so it’s possible the same project manager is assigned to both or not, you just don’t know
@Jim Buckley Barrett: this is not accurate
Most of the computers in the health service are at high risk of cyber attack as they are still running Windows XP, as are most of the other computers within the civil service and not enough funds being made available to replace them.
@RobbieL: If only Ireland could do a deal with a major computer supplier….hmmmmm……how far would 13bn go ;-)
@Dave Hammond: Better yet, lease space on a midrange or mainframe – with decent security and a closed operating system. Upload your data there. You don’t even need to upload everything daily – only the changes. Then you have a daily backup that’s not affected by open or insecure systems on tiny personal computers.
hmmm , never mind the comments , based on the content of the article and the usual waffling from various Govt ministers – suffice to say – we are not even remotely close to having adequate cyber protection for state services – a real concern should be for the SMEs who cannot afford to spend for the same level of protection as large govt and business can -and who unfortunately find it much more difficult to recover at all if they are hit by cyber criminals. Also another major problem coming down the tracks on Insurance for Cyber attacks as the major insurers will not want to deal with the risks -esp for SMEs -who will find it difficult to afford (if available at all ) in the future. Article sounds like it’s the blind leading the blind on this one ( much like all other Govt Depts in Ireland these days ) ;-0
Why don’t you link to the publication?
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