If Christian Dörr has his way, protection against cyber attacks should be increased quickly: “The security of the German authorities has always been in the crosshairs.”
From the point of view of cyber security expert Christian Dörr, Germany must quickly increase protection against cyber attacks, also due to the growing threat since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “The security of the German authorities has always been in the crosshairs. The risk level has probably risen from high to very high due to the Ukraine war,” Dörr told the German Press Agency.
“What we see clearly: When we create new aid packages in the West, attacks on the infrastructure and facilities in the West come immediately,” says Dörr, who heads the Cybersecurity – Enterprise Security department at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam. The heads of the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service and representatives from business and science will discuss the threats posed by cyber attacks on April 19 and 20 at the Hasso Plattner Institute.
“Prepare for cyberwar and disinformation campaigns”
Hackers recently tried to paralyze a new platform from the German Development Ministry for participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine. In February, NATO was also the target of a hacker attack. The Ministry of the Interior had announced that it would strengthen cyber defense and expand the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
In view of cyber war scenarios and state-sponsored attacks, Dörr advocated the creation of international digital standards for cyberspace, similar to agreements in international humanitarian law (Geneva Conventions). An international discussion and agreement is needed as to whether and which offensive behavior is acceptable, but also national coordination as to who and how should react to cyber attacks from abroad. “As a society, we must prepare for cyberwar and disinformation campaigns.”
According to Dörr, an increase in so-called ransomware attacks can be observed above all in the economy. The malware encrypts computers and renders them unusable in order to extort money. “This type of attack is increasing rapidly in industry,” said the expert. The economy is a more attractive target for cybercriminals because they are more willing than municipalities to respond to demands for money. In the case of cyber attacks on municipalities, the focus is instead on triggering chaos and uncertainty. Small administrations often have too few resources and know-how for good cyber security, and thus make themselves vulnerable.
Think about centralization
For better protection against cyber attacks, centralization and thus a better protected environment should be considered, especially for municipal IT, suggested Dörr. Municipalities should also be given guidelines for their IT security.
Companies in Germany suffer annual damage of around 203 billion euros through theft of IT equipment and data, as well as espionage and sabotage. This emerged from a study presented last year on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. More than 1,000 companies in various sectors were surveyed for this purpose.
(APA/dpa)