When fiction meets reality: Ali Carl Gülerman, CEO of Radar Cyber Security, operates Europe’s largest cyber defense center in Vienna based on a technology developed in-house. At the beginning of June, he joined bestselling author Marc Elsberg on a virtual information event to explore current scenarios and threats in the field of cyber defense. The two of them also explored the question of which of the scenarios in Marc Elsberg’s novel “Blackout” from 2012 have actually become reality today and which digital threats will determine the future. Conclusion: Cyber defence in critical infrastructure is not only important for companies and organizations, but is also highly relevant for society as a whole.
What actually happens during a cyberattack and is the current threat situation just hype or bitter reality? These were ominous insights that were discussed and shared by the speakers. Elsberg took us through the dramatic phases of a power blackout and outlined its impact on critical infrastructure and our entire society. It became clear that the scenario he described in “Blackout” is no longer just fiction, but has now become a very real threat, which Europe last narrowly avoided in January 2021. “The IT infrastructure has now become the sensitive nervous system of our entire society. Countless systems depend on each other and are interconnected. Even a small disruption in one area can have a massive impact on the functionality and resilience of the entire system,” says Elsberg. “Since my book was published ten years ago, we still haven’t learned how to deal with this fact properly and develop resilient fall-back systems.” Europe is in the midst of a digital transformation: the European Commission has proclaimed “Europe’s Digital Decade” and has set a clear course for a digitally empowered Europe by 2030. However, increasing digitalization harbours dangers that can have a massive impact on the analogue world: Be it recent hacker attacks on the largest pipeline in the USA and the Irish health authority or an incident at a Croatian substation earlier this year that brought Europe to the brink of a power blackout. In light of current events, the topic of cyber security is becoming increasingly relevant to society. The Austrian Armed Forces also define cyber security in their annual “Annual security policy preview” cyber attacks as a high and current threat to the entire system.
A digital security network is needed to counter such threats responsibly and decisively, as Gülerman explains. “Attacks are on the rise. Be it by individual hackers, organized crime or by states. But the pressure is not only increasing in terms of quantity, the quality of attacks has also risen massively. Weeks and months often pass between infiltration and the actual hack. However, the thieves are not completely invisible and we can detect them with our methods if preventive work has been done beforehand. According to Gülerman, there is currently a rapidly growing market for cybercrime, and business models with a sophisticated division of labor have long been apparent. “You order an attack on the desired target on the darknet, which is then blackmailed. You share the profits with the hackers,” says Gülerman. The more important an industry is for society, the more drastic the effects. Successful cyber attacks on hospitals, for example, can mean that life-saving operations cannot take place. Software alone cannot solve the problem. “We need to focus on increasing resilience in the critical infrastructure and on regular cyber security exercises with scenario training,” says Gülerman. “Unfortunately, we can’t undo hacks once they’ve happened – that’s why preventative work is so important. And the topic is not a quirk of IT maniacs. In addition to the supply chains or cash systems of companies and organizations, in certain sectors such as food retail, it can also lead to massive uncertainty among the population due to supply bottlenecks.” This can also be used to make policy. “With cyber security, we are therefore also protecting our European values,” concludes Gülerman.
