It is Cyber Security Week, the week when The Hague becomes a meeting place for the cybersecurity community. A week to catch up on the latest developments and for organisations to present innovations to investors, helping make business networks more secure and cyberattacks less likely to succeed.
With its central location in Europe, the Netherlands has become a second home to many global players in this field. It also hosts one of the world’s most important internet exchanges. These factors have helped establish its reputation as Europe’s “secure digital gateway”. But how secure is that gateway? In recent months, reports of major cyberattacks have been impossible to ignore. A Rotterdam terminal was hit hard by a global ransomware attack in June. Onliner, the largest spambot ever discovered, was found on a Dutch server. This week, we learned that accountancy firm Deloitte had suffered a major hack.
A costly problem
Every organisation does its best to keep unwanted visitors out, including online. There is still plenty of work to do. This week, Deloitte reported that cybercrime costs the Dutch economy €10 billion a year. On the same day, business data protection provider Datto reported that businesses paid ransomware attackers more than €250 million last year.
Hackers are usually viewed negatively, but hacking can be used for good, including civic and ethical hacking, as well as for harm. Organisations suffer from criminal activity, and those negative consequences understandably dominate the news.
Civic hacking
Catherine Bracy, co-founder and executive director of TechEquity, presents a different view of hackers and argues that we should also look at the other side. In her inspiring TED Talk, she explains that for every hacker trying to steal your identity, another is developing a tool that helps people find their loved ones after a natural disaster.
This is civic hacking, which Bracy strongly supports. Her organisation is building a community of civic hackers who add innovations to existing systems to solve complex problems and help local authorities improve their digital security.
Ethical hacking
As more businesses operate online and adopt technologies such as cloud computing, the risk of security breaches increases, along with the need for effective information security systems. New legislation and cyberattacks confront companies with complex security requirements: patching vulnerabilities, continually updating systems to withstand advanced attacks, and adapting security approaches to new technologies.
Businesses may not give it enough thought, but these challenges make ethical hacking increasingly important. Specialist firms employ trained professionals who help other organisations address potential security problems while maintaining confidentiality and protecting sensitive information.
With new worms, malware, ransomware and viruses appearing daily, I believe businesses should explore how ethical hacking can help protect their networks.
Every organisation’s security needs to be assessed periodically. Businesses operate in a structured but complex environment of security measures, policies and changing technologies. Systems therefore need thorough evaluation to identify vulnerabilities. The PR and communications policy should reflect those findings too. That allows businesses to take action before sensitive information becomes public. Nobody wants that.
And that is precisely where a hacker can help…
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