National strategies in the field of cybersecurity can count on a lot of criticism. ‘There’s a lot of good stuff in it, but also a lot of bullshit. Besides that, a lot of things are missing,” critic VVD MEP Bart Groothuis at BNR Digitaal. “Now there’s a phase: how are we going to stop tomorrow’s onslaught? I still miss that.’
Not only was Groothuis critical of the plan, Eward Driehuis, cybersecurity adviser and chairman of CSIRT.global, also saw what the strategy lacked. ‘Awareness of citizens and small businesses, I want to know how they are being helped to become less risky cyber citizens.’
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Groothuis does not have an ‘active strategy’ to strengthen cybersecurity. ‘Agreements can also be made with internet providers. If you know a domain is serving malware, why don’t we put it on a red screen? They did that in Belgium and they took the lead in this and we fell behind’
However, the positive aspects of this strategy were also noted, Driehuis emphasized. ‘This is being talked about more maturely than before. For example, there is no longer any distinction between criminal aspects in cyberspace. This is a very strategic part, but the question is how are you going to put it into practice.’
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Protect the economy
What VVD politicians want to see is a DNS server that centrally manages which sites are secure and which are not. ‘You put all the knowledge we have about malware, IP addresses and domains on it. If you then click on certain domains as legitimate malicious, they will not be opened. You can also do this or offer it to companies for vital infrastructure. That way you protect your entire economic earning capacity’, thought Groothuis.
Groothuis also wants to see more European cooperation, as Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US have done. ‘They collaborate very intensively, in the field of intelligence, but also in the fields of policing, policy and geopolitics. We need to get an equivalent in Europe’, said Groothuis.
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