The Ministry of Digital Governance (MDG) is preparing to implement a set of projects through Information Society for the protection of public bodies against cyberattacks. This action is the product of the now well-established belief of the State that the constant adaptation, prevention and timely reaction to the challenges of a constantly changing environment constitute the strongest foundation for the effective development of an integrated strategy for dealing with cyberattacks.
In this context, Information Society recently submitted to public consultation a tender for strengthening cybersecurity in the public sector. The project has a total budget of 102 million euro, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, and it is expected to be launched within the next few months.
The aim of the project is to provide uninterrupted and real-time (24/7) surveillance of the systems of four important entities supervised by the MDG (General Secretariat of Information Systems for Public Administration / GSISPA, e-Government Centre for Social Security / IDIKA, Land Registry, Greek Research and Technology Network / GRNET) by a specialized and internationally recognized provider for the prevention and managing of cyberthreats. The proposed initiative aims to strengthen the level of security for the important ICT infrastructure of the public sector.
The project has been designed and will be implemented by taking into account that all cybersecurity measures must focus on three (3) basic and critical factors:
The users. Users must understand and follow basic security principles, such as the proper management of passwords, exercising caution towards attached files and being able to judge which Sites look dangerous, making frequent backups and generally being properly informed in order to be able to recognize threats.
The procedures set by an organization. Organizations must have examined and implemented a framework for how users should deal with successful or failed cyberattack attempts.
Technological infrastructure. Technology is necessary so as to give organizations and their employees the tools they need to protect themselves against cyberattacks.
In the above framework, the project on strengthening the cyber resilience of the MDG’s critical infrastructure and of the entities under its supervision shall focus on a set of actions concerning all of the above factors, in particular:
- Policies – Procedures, Countermeasures and Prevention Measures
- Specialized Information, Document and Application Security Solutions
- Cloud computing infrastructure and services
- SOC Ddos services
- Specialized security solutions
The General Director of Projects at Information Society, Mr Dimitris Giantsis, highlighted during a recent conference on cybersecurity: “Cyber risk management is a dynamically changing process; it is constantly evolving and changing according to the relevant threat environment. Looking at the evolution of the cybersecurity environment over the past ten years has clearly taught us that there is a need for a holistic, prevention-focused approach in order to optimize cyber resilience for organizations. At Information Society, we are already convinced of the necessity of such an approach and intend to implement a series of projects soon, in order to protect critical public organizations against cyberattacks.”
