Welcome to RHEA’s Security Bulletin. Every quarter, we will brief you on security tendencies, technologies, best practices and provide an insight into RHEA’s cybersecurity strategy and activities. Each issue will bring new summaries to help you stay ahead of fast-changing threats. At the end of the day, the goals are simple: keep your business and yourself safe & secure.
ECHO
In 2019, under the Horizon 2020 Programme, the European Commission brought together specialist expertise to form four large pilot projects to connect and share knowledge across multiple cybersecurity domains and develop a common cybersecurity strategy for Europe. The goal of the initiative was to create the foundation for the European Network of Competence Centre, which will drive future cybersecurity funding and research in the European Union.
RHEA is the technical lead for ECHO (European Network of Cybersecurity Centres and Competence Hub for Innovation and Operations), which is one of the four pilot projects. The ECHO consortium consists of 35 organizations from different fields and sectors. In total, 300 cybersecurity experts are collaborating to ensure the success of this initiative, under RHEA’s guidance.
ECHO to date
ECHO recently reached its two-year milestone, finalizing multiple systems, software and framework development activities. This has included a strong focus on critical sectors such as energy, healthcare, maritime transportation and space. In these 24 months, ECHO has worked on a vast set of assets and delivered its first consolidated versions, as well as connecting all its partners at multiple layers (research, engineering, business). Members of the ECHO team are now working together on many other activities and are at the forefront of the Horizon and Digital Europe programmes.
If your organization is interested in joining the ECHO network, please get in touch! You are also welcome to participate in our training curriculum, including cyber-range and tabletop exercises.
Developing the European Space Agency’s Security Cyber Centre of Excellence
Work is currently underway to establish the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Security Cyber Centre of Excellence at the European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC), in Redu, Belgium, the hub of ESA’s space-related cybersecurity services.
During the Space 19+ meeting in November 2019, ESA committed to providing world-leading cybersecurity activities in support of all European space programmes. This new Security Cyber Centre of Excellence will be one of the key instruments used to increase the cyber resilience of ESA and the wider space industrial community, enhancing the Agency’s ability to assess and respond to existing and future cyber threats. It will enable ESA to adapt its cybersecurity capabilities, model the future security landscape and develop best practice.
The Security Cyber Centre of Excellence will provide services to a wide range of user communities, producing results that are appropriate for the many distinct programmes and missions for which ESA is responsible.
RHEA is leading the consortium to establish the Centre, which has the potential to operate in combination with cybersecurity initiatives of the European Commission, such as the European Network of Cybersecurity Competence Centres, and interface with key European institutional and national security organizations.
Author: Doug Wiemer
Security Awareness and Implications in National Security Strategies
Earlier this year, SANS Institute released its 2021 Security Awareness Report, which focused on analyzing data from more than 1,500 professionals regarding managing organizational human risk, and/or error. The report identified that it is not a lack of investment in technology that leaves companies and individuals vulnerable, but instead this arises from people being exposed to disinformation campaigns (political) and threatened with online psychological harm, financial loss or loss of privacy.
Until recently, organizational security awareness was not a high priority, but it gained prominence when cyberattacks began to take businesses offline, demanded high ransom sums and ultimately affected national security. It is now identified in the top 10 of the ‘World Economic Forum Top Global Risks Report 2021’.
National computer emergency response teams (CERTs), which support and implement national cybersecurity strategies, include cybersecurity awareness and education in their action plans. These two factors directly influence the resilience of a country’s critical infrastructure against sophisticated cyberattack techniques, including those that target the human factor.
At RHEA, cyber awareness training is at the core of our cybersecurity risk programmes. While the theoretical side aims to generate in-class discussions and exchange of ideas, the practical side makes use of our CITEF cyber-range platform to enable candidates to simulate their own infrastructures issues, develop incident response plans and, ultimately, test resilience and response in the event of a cyberattack.
Author: Ana-Marie Matejic
Understanding the Art of Phishing
A 2021 report from Proofpoint identified that 57% of organizations experienced a ‘successful’ phishing attack in 2020. 76% of these resulted in malware infections and 52% caused loss of money and/or data, computer damage or disruption.
Phishing is a cyberattack designed to lure you via email, text or voice messaging into taking action you should not take, similar to fish being caught using bait. Typical actions include clicking on a malicious link or opening an infected attachment.
Cybercriminals are incredibly clever, making messages compelling and evoking emotions such as fear, curiosity or pressure. Messages may appear to come from a trustworthy source and can feature logos or footers that look legitimate. But attackers leave clues in their cunning attacks
Arm yourself in common sense
Simply opening and reading a text or email is generally not harmful, so here are a few things to look for to avoid being compromised:
Emails originating from a known or official institution but with poor grammar or spelling, or that use a personal or strange email address such as xxxx123123123@gmail.com
Generic statements such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Sir”, when the perceived ‘sender’ should know your name
A message from a seemingly official email address, but the ‘To/Reply’ field address looks like it is going to a different email account
A message from someone you know, but where the tone or wording does not seem right. If you are suspicious, call the sender to verify they sent it.
Any message exerting a significant sense of pressure; for example being marked for ‘immediate action’ or asking you to pay an outstanding amount for a package to be (re)delivered.
In general, if any digital communication you receive requires an immediate response or makes you even slightly wary, check it by another means with the sender and never click on suspicious links.
Events
Although many countries are facing continued travel restrictions, RHEA’s experts are still taking part in global events and seminars. Here are a few events where our cybersecurity experts will be speaking:
UK in the 2020s
20 May
Robert Mazzolin, RHEA’s Group Chief Cybersecurity Strategist, will be presenting in the ‘Technology for 2030’ session.