With the advent of the digital age many things have changed. Computers, mobiles, transport, the way we buy … The Internet has brought many advantages with it, but it has also carried some risks such as the lack of computer security , better known as cybersecurity .
Since we do everything with computer codes, mobile or other new technologies, crimes related to the digital sphere have also increased . The phishing is one of the best known. Now thieves are called hackers and they are able to steal your identity, money from your account or even your mobile, from the sofa at home, with just one computer.
This also poses a danger during the electoral period , at which time there is an increase in attacks on institutional websites and political parties, as the analyst Alexander Tankov of the cybersecurity company S21sec assures .
“Activist groups are the ones who usually carry out cyber attacks during election periods, ” Tankov says. “They are made up of personnel between 20 and 30 years old who try to enter the web pages of state institutions or political parties.
Cybersecurity problems
Alexander details that cybercriminals choose these moments because they are “more sensitive” and in which people “are more present in social networks” , so they are easier victims to take to fraudulent web addresses that end in data theft or passwords “They can cause more damage to the State, which in the end is the objective.”
Attacks of this type are “simple,” according to the analyst. ” They usually last between one and eight hours, which is very short. There are others that last for days,” he says. “They just leave a web page offline.”
Alexander highlights the importance of cybersecurity, telling how S21sec responds quickly to these attacks: “During the last elections, the hacks we monitored lasted a maximum of 15 minutes . When we report it, a solution is given to the moment” .
Tankov believes that ordinary citizens do not have sufficient security in their devices and equipment to stop an attack of this kind, something that does count the systems of counting or counting votes where voter data is registered. “They are usually very protected,” he says.
“The worst thing that can happen is for a group to enter an official website and filter personal data from the Spanish population . It is very difficult to solve this,” he explains. “Likewise, it would be very serious for private information from the State to be leaked.”
During this election campaign, S21sec has monitored more than 100 cyberattacks. Despite being a very high number, Alexander says that ” there has never been a large-scale one that can impact or be high risk.”
12,000 cyber threats a day
S21sec has opened a new Security Operations Center (SOC) in Madrid, from where all cybersecurity activity and incidents that occur inside and outside Spain are monitored in real time. On average, they manage more than 12,000 cyber threats .
“Currently, most companies are not ready to deal with cyber threats that exist and 56% of companies are unlikely to be able to detect a sophisticated attack,” said Agustín Muñoz-Grandes, CEO of S21sec. “In addition, companies are taking longer to detect and respond to security incidents that occur today.”
The risks that companies face every day are multiple and increasingly complex, such as the loss or theft of information, damage to the reputation of the company, its employees and its managers .
Given the influence of the military world on everything related to cybersecurity , and the incorporation of concepts such as cyberwar, or cyberspace, the vocabulary used to define the equipment destined to participate in simulations of attacks with the terminology of Red was also added Team , or attacking team, and Blue Team or defending team.
” We are exposed to an overwhelming number of cyber threats. How much more important is a manager, a politician, an institution or company, the risks multiply and it is necessary to have a cybersecurity plan in place to curb its possible consequences,” says Jorge Hurtado, Vice President of Managed Services of S21sec.
