Cybersecurity in public sector

Ransomware attacks on municipalities and similar organisations are more frequent than ever. The attacks can block all computers, and thus all digital communication, with the attacker demanding a ransom to unblock them. Going without digital communication is hardly an option in today’s world, and the only way to avoid falling victim to these attacks is to work with cybersecurity in public sector in a consistent and structured way.

With digitisation, more devices are connected to the Internet – convenient, but this also increases the possible attack routes into the IT structure. At the same time, the methods used by the attackers of today are more and more refined, and the attacks today are usually targeted and well-planned.

Regulations for actors in public sector

The NIS directive sets a range of network and information security requirements which apply to operators of essential services, and digital service providers. Since it is an EU directive, every EU member state must adopt national legislation, which follows or ‘transposes’ the directive. If your organisation provides essential services in the sectors of energy, transport, banking, financial market infrastructure, healthcare, water supply or digital infrastructure, then you are likely to be covered by the NIS directive and need to follow its rules.

The directive aims to achieve a high common level of security in networks and information systems for critical societal and digital services within the Union. This way, the internal market will be stronger and the vulnerabilities of central social services will reduce.

How to raise cybersecurity in public sector

We help government agencies, county councils and municipalities to protect classified information and keep their infrastructure running. Our solutions will also help you achieve compliance with GDPR, NIS and security protection legislations. Our products are used for encrypted communication and for cross-domain connectivity. 

To protect sensitive systems and confidential data – Advenica Data Diodes are the failsafe way to go. The function of a data diode is to allow all data to pass in the forward direction, while blocking all data in the reverse direction. The fibre optical connection makes it physically impossible for data to travel in the opposite direction. And as it is not software, it cannot be directly attacked by malicious code, which results in high assurance. Every organisation operating sensitive information has great use of a data diode to protect its valuable information and securely exchange data.

To further reduce potential attack vectors and at the same time provide secure and selective access to the systems from remote networks, a security gateway for controlled information exchange – ZoneGuard – should be implemented. By using Advenica’s ZoneGuard with remote desktop capability, access is controlled, and threats towards a remote desktop solution are effectively mitigated in the cross domain point. All information is validated and transformed, which means that sensitive information stays within the protected network, and malicious code cannot spread.

Importing files into secure environments is another area that poses a significant security threat unless the files are properly sanitized before transfer. By using File Security Screener, a high assurance Cross Domain Solution with malware scanning and content disarm and reconstruction capabilities, efficient and automated countermeasures for malware is provided. At the same time, separation for the connected networks are secured. The File Security Screener provides an efficient, scalable, and trusted solution for secure file import.