Cyber attacks are growing threat we must be ready for amid Ukraine invasion, says Fianna Fail Senator Malcolm Byrne
THE war between Russia and Ukraine is playing out online in addition to on the ground.
While thousands of soldiers and innocent victims have been killed in the fighting, another battle is taking place online.
Since 2014, Russia has engaged in repeated cyberattacks against Ukraine, even shutting off its electrical grid.
Joe Biden pre-emptively warned Russia that the US is “prepared to respond” to any attacks on critical infrastructure, and others have warned for years of a “Cyber Pearl Harbour”.
A cyber security conference in Dublin last week heard that there has been a 25 per cent jump in cyber attacks around the world in the last two weeks.
The worsening tensions between Europe and Russia - including Ireland - has led to fears that hackers could target State infrastructure in a similar vein to the crushing attack on the HSE last year.
Writing in the Irish Sun today, Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne says closer European security and defence co-operation is now vital, especially in cyberspace.
CYBER ATTACKS
MAY 2021 saw the largest ever known attack on a health service anywhere in the world.
As the Health Service Executive continued to battle the Covid Pandemic, its IT systems went down causing the cancellation of approximately 7,000 patient appointments each day.
We don’t know the full impact of those delays on individual patients and those close to them, but lives were put at risk.
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Many who required urgent treatment were not seen as quickly as they should have been.
We know that to date, the ICT system repair costs alone have run to around €45million.But the HSE attack was not the only one.
A Grant Thornton Report estimated that cyber crime is costing Ireland about €9.6billion now annually.
To put that in context, the Government’s Capital Building Programme for 2022 (the largest ever) is just slightly more, at €10billion.
ATTACK INCREASE
These attacks are going to likely to grow and become more common.
Irish universities, government departments and agencies, businesses and non-governmental organisations are all being targeted.
Increasingly, battles of the future will be fought out in cyberspace rather than with boots on the ground and we need to ensure that Ireland is well equipped to be able to deal with any attack.
While we see the appalling attacks of Vladimir Putin on Ukraine with tanks and bombs, his regime is also following the playbook of cyberattacks and online misinformation that he has used before in attacks on Estonia, Georgia and Crimea.
EFFORTS MADE
Sometimes, the cyber criminals may not be State sponsored but there is limited action by the government in the country where they are based.
I do not believe it far fetched that if Ireland took a particularly strong line on an issue at the UN Security Council for instance, that there would not be an effort to impact on some critical infrastructure here.
There have been efforts of online interference in elections in democratic countries, including from Russia in recent American elections.
As we move more of our personal details, financial transactions and indeed, almost all aspects of our lives into the digital space, we need to ensure that those tasked with regulating and policing and protecting have sufficient teeth and backup to do so.
There are welcome moves by Government to significantly increase resourcing for the National Cyber Security Centre: the National Development Plan provides for an increase in staff numbers from 25 to 70 over a five year period.
NOT ENOUGH
An Garda Siochana has made positive steps in establishing dedicated cybercrime teams. But this is not enough.
Ireland on our own will not be capable of dealing with external threats. Our foreign policy has always been based on supporting global progress through co-operation and international organisations.
We should be rightly proud of being the only country to have taken part in every UN peacekeeping mission since they began over sixty years ago.
We stand up for the values of democracy and human rights, and against autocracy: as we are doing with our European neighbours with Ukraine.
We need to work together in facing down the threat of cybercrime and cyberterrorism.
TAKING ACTIVE PART
PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) was established in 2017 as part of the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy.
Its purpose is to provide a “legal framework to jointly plan, develop and invest in shared capability projects, and enhance the operational readiness and contribution of armed forces.”
Member States can opt in to any of the joint projects, which includes common training for defence forces.
Ireland needs to take an active part in all of the joint initiatives to develop a common European response to cyber attacks and the breaches of cybersecurity.
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We should take the lead on cyber peacekeeping. The attack on the HSE last year was a terrorist attack and we have to treat it as such.
We cannot be neutral when our essential infrastructure is being undermined.
