ŠAVŠ/TAČR Digital Czechia in a Digital Europe

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Cyberspace and Cyber Security in the Czech Republic Michal Bokša Current cyber threats and attacks are growing at breakneck speed. In many cases, national security depends on the infrastructure and resources provided or owned by the private sector. The primary task must be to create an effective platform for cooperation and protection of domestic strategic industries – defense, finance/banking, telecommunications, logistics, energy and healthcare/ pharmaceuticals. Especially following the example of the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic should also apply centralized government monitoring in these strategic sectors to ensure that private entities actually implement the necessary measures to protect key systems and data. A mainstream educational web portal should be simultaneously created. It would provide information on cyber threats and potential solutions. The platform, which should aim to raise awareness of this issue and provide information and recommendations toCzech companies and individuals, would further strengthen the Czech Republic’s additional resilience against cyber threats. According to the recommendations of the American think institute American Enterprise Institute, a portal could be created between the private and public sectors, which would monitor cyber threats practically in real time. This arrangement would provide immediate and reciprocal information about ongoing cyberattacks. Regardless of the perpetrator of the cyberattack, attacks are occurring in the present period more and more frequently, involving an increasing segment of society. The increased availability of tools/software that enable cyberattacks and their relative decline in complexity of use also play an important role in this. It can be assumed that this trend will continue, and cybercrime will become a more widespread phenomenon. However, most cyberattacks are easy to prevent. An estimated 80% of currently successful cyberattacks can be averted by regular updates of antivirus software. An important feature, therefore, is to set up a consistent monitoring mechanism to ensure that mandatory security software updates in strategic sectors are complied with without exception. A mistake on the part of a person, the so-called human factor, is the cause of cyber security breaches in 95% of cases. Regular awareness raising of the correct handling of the computer and annual retraining should become a common educational practice of government employees.