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Cybersecurity becomes even more of a priority with the war in Ukraine
Audio 04:17
Since the beginning of the war led by Russia, the laptops of Ukrainian leaders have been regularly targeted by hackers (photo illustration).
REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration
By: Dominique Baillard Follow
4 mins
The international cybersecurity forum opens this Tuesday, June 7 in Lille, in the North of France.
For three days, thousands of participants will discuss ways to protect themselves from this constantly rising form of crime, in the context of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
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The laptops of Ukrainian leaders are regularly targeted by hackers, probably Russian, recognized yesterday, Monday, June 6, a senior Ukrainian official.
In his country, all the infrastructures are under close surveillance in this conflict considered to be the first cyber war.
Hundreds of Russian attacks have already been detected and foiled over the past three months.
In fact, the Russians started their cyber war against Ukraine from 2014. They seriously disrupted the power distribution system in 2015, but since the Russian army invaded Ukraine, the dreaded damage n did not take place.
The telecom company Urktelecom and the Viasat satellite were targeted, but without paralyzing Ukrainian telecommunications, thanks to a very reactive and very agile response.
► To listen also: Europe of cyber defense
Regarding cyber crime emanating from Russia, experts note that it tends to settle this year.
With financial sanctions isolating Russia, hackers are struggling to find alternatives to obtain the ransoms.
So on the
contrary,
this first cyber war is not very visible at the moment
On the other hand, like the pandemic, it constitutes a systemic shock which reinforces the cyber risk, estimates a senior European official.
Lockdowns have encouraged intrusions into company systems via home PCs.
Attacks have increased sharply between 2020 and 2021. Against citizens, against public institutions, in Italy for example the Senate, the city of Rome and hospitals have suffered destructive attacks.
Finally, companies are increasingly victims of ransom demands in exchange for their data.
Ransomware is the most widespread form of crime, up 13% between 2020 and 2021, according to the report compiled by the American company Verizon.
This crime is costing companies more and more
Ransomware represents a loss of several million euros in Europe.
In the United States, the amount of ransoms flies away, it can be between 20 and 40 million dollars.
Small businesses are the least well protected, in Europe nearly one in two Portuguese SMEs suffered an attack last year.
Large groups are not spared.
And they are devoting an increasingly large budget to their IT security.
The cyber market weighs 130 billion euros in Europe, it is growing by 17% per year.
The States are working hard to strengthen their defense.
Starting with the most exposed, very behind in terms of cybersecurity.
This is the case of Italy.
Mario Draghi wants to increase the dedicated budget and recruit 100,000 professionals to develop an agency which has only a few hundred employees.
In the United States, Joe Biden calls for an increase in the cyber budget of more than 11%.
At the European level, the regulatory system is already very advanced and the coordination of the various players is increasingly strong.
Stress tests were organized last March to check the solidity of the system of several Eastern European countries.
Despite all these efforts, the European Court of Auditors considers that the EU is today incapable of dealing with a large-scale attack.
Hackers rely mostly on human weakness to break into computer systems.
Phishing is by far the first way to break into the system of a company or an administration.
To limit this gaping flaw, it is urgent to educate all users, but for the moment, they only receive a few hours of training per year.
► IN BRIEF
Apple now offers deferred payment.
This is one of the main announcements made yesterday by the firm at "the apple".
The service will be available this fall in the US market.
© RFI
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