📋 Tender Overview
Today the 3-day event NLSecure ID of KPN Security started. Outgoing Minister of Justice Security Ferd Grapperhaus did the opening. He fully endorses the goal of this meeting for the entire IT community Making the Netherlands safer together. Various security experts and top speakers from the Netherlands and abroad will share their knowledge with nearly 2000 participants for three days. This exchange is crucial to increase digital resilience in the Netherlands. A good moment to talk to KPN Security director Marcel van Oirschot about the state of digital security in the Netherlands.The world has changed a lot since March last year what is the impact of corona on the world of cybercrimeCybercrime is a structured cat and mouse game and 2020 was an extremely interesting year for criminals. Corona pushed our society into an accelerated digitization process. It became even more clear to everyone that we depend on digital connections 247 from the bakery on the corner to large organizations. Cyber criminals have known this for a long time and made optimal use of the situation last year. Their strategy is to mislead as many people as possible with a major current topic for example with phishing emails. The European Football Championship or the Olympic Games are one of those subjects. They were canceled but instead there was a much larger topic that criminals could bet on corona. Coupled with the exponential growth of people who were active online a huge attack surface emerged. And that is exactly what cyber criminals are looking for. The larger the attack surface the greater the chance of success. That is essential for their earnings model. A cyber criminal is never unemployed Where do things mainly go wrong at companiesWe saw a massive shift at a rapid pace to for example working in the cloud. A movement that went uncontrolled because almost everyone had to be able to work from home immediately. Many companies had to get this done just as quickly so that sometimes simple solutions were chosen. That is worrisome. Now is the time when companies start organizing their infrastructure and safety more structurally and professionally. They have to set up the foundation otherwise it is asking for problems. Most security incidents can simply be traced back to the basis that was not in order. Now is the time for companies to organize their infrastructure and safety in a more structured and professional manner.Marcel van Oirschot director of KPN SecurityWhat do you understand by basic securityThis concerns three pillars people process and technology. In humans it is about awareness and behavior. Knowing what to click or not to click. Send something with a secure email program or via an app. For example GPs can mutually agree to only e-mail patient data securely using for example KPN Zorg Messenger. But if that is not enforced it is difficult in practice to resist the ease and speed of an app. The process is mainly about a clear policy for things like passwords backups and patch management. And that automatically brings us to the third pillar of technology. Because a process only works if you have the right technology in house. You hear little about incidents while we know that they are abundant. How did that happenIt is thought that it is currently quiet in the world of cybercrime. It is not. It just doesnt come out in the open. Apparently companies are ashamed of being victims. I understand that it is not nice when it happens to you but you dont have to be ashamed at all. Everyone is a potential victim. That is why I would like much more to become public such as the hack at Maastricht University . We can all learn from that and it always shakes up a few organizations to get their bases in order. Awareness in particular is an important step what is KPNs role in thisIt takes a lot of patience to make people and companies aware of the urgency of security. Entrepreneurs already have so much on their mind which is why we talk to them and not just about security. It is about the continuity of their business. We put ourselves in their world and think along about how and with what we can keep their company going. We do this as a reliable partner as a large stable Dutch company to which entrepreneurs can entrust their data with confidence. And for the next three days during NLSecure ID awareness is also a recurring theme. As a security community we have a common goal to make the Netherlands safer and knowledge sharing is crucial to increase digital resilience. It all starts with awareness. Entrepreneurs already have so much on their mind which is why we talk to them and not just about security. It is about the continuity of their business. We put ourselves in their place and think along about how and with what we can keep their company up and running. Marcel van Oirschot director of KPN SecurityFinally do you have any thoughts for the readerI certainly do. Its not my own but so very true. It reads There is no excuse for not having your basic security in order. Private and business. You cant get away with saying you didnt know security is important. The topic has been in the press often enough. So always be aware of your vulnerability and the impact if things go wrong. Prevention is better than cure.
