Frenzied Attacks Do Not Sleep – No One Is Safe Anymore!

Hospitals in the US and the Netherlands were reportedly targeted by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, believed to be orchestrated by Russian hacktivists. The University of Michigan Hospital and Stanford Health Care Center were among the affected facilities in the US, while a hospital in Groningen, the Netherlands, also came under attack.

Cuba to Sudan, Treat to Sweden's Security  motivated by Anonymous Sudan

The campaign is linked to President Biden’s decision to send Abrams tanks to aid Ukraine’s war effort. The group responsible for the attacks is believed to be Killnet (Anonymous Sudan), possibly in collaboration with other attackers. The website of the University Medical Center Groningen experienced a high volume of traffic, but no medical services were affected. Hospital staff are uncertain whether the attacks have genuinely ceased.

It is currently unknown whether other hospitals in the Netherlands have been affected. Still, according to Z-CERT, the country’s healthcare computer emergency response team, the recent attack on University Medical Center Groningen was carried out by the group Killnet. Killnet is known for using DDoS attacks to disrupt operations in allied countries and has previously targeted several US airports and Lithuanian government websites.

Although DDoS attacks are typically seen as a minor annoyance to large organisations and governments, the healthcare sector is more concerned about the threat of ransomware attacks carried out by Russian cybercriminals. Killnet has strongly supported Russia’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Their recent attacks are believed to be in response to President Biden’s decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine to aid the war effort. Despite this, the Netherlands has yet to agree to send tanks as it currently leases the equipment from Germany. However, the country has decided to send a Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine.

Cyber Risk Alert Raised in Denmark After Russian Attacks

Denmark in January raised its cyber security alert level from “medium” to “high” after several attacks by pro-Russian hacker groups in recent weeks, the country’s Centre for Cyber Security said. “The risk level is being raised on the back of high activity among pro-Russian cyber activists, who are carrying out many attacks against targets within a wide range of NATO countries,” the centre said.

Websites of several institutions and companies in Denmark, including the central bank, commercial banks, ministries and the military, have in the past month been increasingly targeted by so-called distributed denials of service (DDoS), which direct traffic towards targeted servers in a bid to knock them offline.

Hackers have become better at planning and executing their attacks, giving them more “striking power,” the centre said, adding it expects to see more such attacks in the future. Pro-Russian hacker groups have on Telegram claimed responsibility for some of the recent attacks on Danish institutions. Moscow has consistently denied that it carries out hacking operations.

The hackers are “driven by ideological or political motives”, which increases the likelihood of attacks in response to isolated incidents such as Quran burnings in front of Turkey’s embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen, the centre said.

The Growing Threat of Cyberattacks in Sweden: CUBA to Sudan and Anonymous Sudan

Finland Brings Cyber Capabilities to NATO

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland has decided to join NATO to adapt to the new security environment in Europe. This is a shift from Finland’s previous stance of military non-alignment and a working relationship with Russia.

With its 5G telecommunications and cyber security capabilities, Finland is set to become a significant provider of 5G infrastructure and innovative satellite technology to NATO. The Finnish security model involves close collaboration between the public and private sectors, with public-private partnerships that tap into each other’s strengths.

Finland is currently ranked eleventh in the Cyber Security Index, making it resilient to digital attacks. NATO will benefit from Finland’s telecommunication technology expertise and inter-member procurement opportunities.

Cyber Threats Rise in Nordics in Response to NATO Applications

The events in Ukraine have prompted Finland and Sweden to reevaluate their defence policies, given their proximity to Russia. Finland shares a long border with Russia and has been on high alert, while Swedes have been joining the military reserve force in record numbers. In an unprecedented move, both countries, which have traditionally maintained neutrality, have applied for NATO membership due to the threat of a Russian attack.

The NATO applications, submitted jointly on May 18th last year, have drawn threats of retaliation from Russia, although confirmation may take several months. While a traditional military attack is not expected, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has cautioned that cyber attacks could be a possible response.

Several regional experts have raised concerns about the potential cyberattacks against Finland and Sweden. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Mikko Hypponen, the chief researcher at a Finnish cybersecurity firm, expressed fears of cyberattacks from the Russian government or Russian government proxies that could be aimed at Finland and Sweden. Kim Elman, the director of a cybersecurity centre at a state-owned research institute, noted that the two countries’ high-tech status makes them attractive targets for espionage.

The Finnish Government Was Taken Down

The threat of cyberattacks on Finland and Sweden is not just theoretical, as recent events have shown. In April, Finnish government websites were taken down by hackers during a live stream of a speech by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Similarly, Sweden experienced a major cyber attack in July 2021, when Coop, a large grocery chain, was forced to close almost 1000 stores due to the Kaseya hack. Furthermore, in December 2021, the IT systems of Kalix municipality were taken down by a ransom attack that affected over 100 different business systems, with Russian hackers suspected of being responsible.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Finnish cyber security agency is closely monitoring the situation in anticipation of future attacks. Sauli Pahlman, the agency’s deputy director, stated that they are studying the situation closely. Meanwhile, municipalities in Sweden are also becoming increasingly concerned about protecting themselves and their critical infrastructure. Johan Turell, a senior cybersecurity analyst at MSB, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, confirmed this growing concern.

While it is widely acknowledged that European politicians are vulnerable to cyber attacks, it’s essential to recognise that malicious actors and hostile entities threaten top-level government officials and critical infrastructure, industries, and supply chains. The interdependence of modern systems means that attacks can have significant consequences, and any weaknesses can be exploited. In other words, a system’s security is only as strong as its weakest link, and cyber attacks can lead to prolonged periods of disruption.

Renewing Cybersecurity Practices

To ensure cybersecurity, businesses and state-owned enterprises in Sweden and Finland must constantly review their security practices. This means taking a holistic approach to security that encompasses all employees, independent contractors and third-party users who access their systems.

Legacy authentication methods, such as usernames and passwords, are vulnerable to hacking and are often found widely distributed online, making them inadequate for ensuring security. To strengthen security, organisations may need to adopt more sophisticated authentication methods. In practice, this may require implementing more stringent measures to counter the increasing threat of cyberattacks.

How will AI impact CyberSecurity in near future

  • Cybersecurity disruption using AI technology
  • Codefix: Enhancing Application Security Testing accuracy by teaching AI to read code and look for vulnerabilities
  • PurpleAI: Augmenting Red-Team exercises by teaching an AI agent to autonomously infiltrate corporate networks and bypass security controls
  • Recent technology advancements and impact on future Cyber warfare

How will AI impact CyberSecurity in near future

  • Cybersecurity disruption using AI technology
  • Codefix: Enhancing Application Security Testing accuracy by teaching AI to read code and look for vulnerabilities
  • PurpleAI: Augmenting Red-Team exercises by teaching an AI agent to autonomously infiltrate corporate networks and bypass security controls
  • Recent technology advancements and impact on future Cyber warfare

Nick Roddick

Head of Production

Elpidoforos Arapantonis

Senior IT security manager at Volvo

Elpidoforos Arapantonis aka Elpis is Chief Product Security Officer at ecarx in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has academic background in electronics with M.Sc. degrees in distributed systems, as well as in information security. He has long experience working in projects around Autonomous Driving, and Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems in OEMs, from the cybersecurity point of view. His current focus is cybersecurity on infotainment systems as well as vehicles’ off board systems.

Anders Jared

CISO at Bravida

With decades in the area of security I now lead the IT and information security work within Systembolaget AB. This proactive engagement together with my background of analyzing security breaches in criminal investigations renders me a unique understanding of both threats and prevention possibilities in our digitalized world.

Anthony Herrin

Nordic Head of Cyber Underwriting at RiskPoint Group

Anthony has 15 years of experience in the insurance industry with roles within both broking and underwriting. He has focused on cyber risk and insurance since 2015 and is CISM certified. Whilst predominantly on the broking side at Aon, JLT and Marsh over the last few years, he has recently moved to an underwriting role at Riskpoint and will lead their team of Nordic Underwriters.

Bernard Helou

Head of IT Governance at Lendo Group

Bernard has 15 years experience in information security. He has been working as a
cybersecurity consultant to CAC40 companies in Paris for 9 years before taking internal roles as information security manager. From security awareness to data protection strategy or
contingency plans, he has a good overview of security best practices.

Moa Mörner

DSO DPO at SJ AB

Moa Mörner is an experienced Data Protection Officer with a demonstrated history of working with questions concerning processing on a large scale of special categories of personal data, both for Controllers and Processors. She is skilled in data protection law, advising on strategic level as well as operative, assessments and recommendations, educating, and managing incidents of personal data breaches. Moa is strong advocate for making data protection and information security working together, when the perspective of the individual (data protection) and the perspective of the organization (information security) allows it.

Today Moa is Group DPO at SJ AB.

Jacqueline Jönsson

CISO at Danish Energy Grid

During my 20+ years in the security sector I have a good feeling about what works in practice and gives results and what doesn’t. The part that engages me most is integration of technical security with legal and financial aspects as well as people’s behavior.

Core skill is CISO work and guiding board members and executives about cybersecurity, operational resilience and business assurance.

Also advice on regulations, directives and practices for the financial services and energy sector.

Jonas Rendahl

CISO at Aurobay

My name is Jonas Rendahl and I work as CISO at Aurobay (Powertrain Engineering Sweden AB). I live south of Gothenburg with my wife and daughter.

I started my interest in computers and security at an early age. I have worked within IT since early 2000 but I have worked within many different industries and areas before that. Within IT I have worked with things like development, support, testing, management, audits, disaster and recovery, architecture, operational security and almost all aspects of security you can think of.

I have a keen interest in security and love the fact that it is such a dynamic and ever-evolving industry. From all of my experiences I have learnt that nothing is static and that all experiences are something to learn from.

I am a rather pragmatic person in such respect that I try to listen the organization’s needs and weigh that against potential risks and possible and plausible security measures. I am a firm believer in simplicity over complexity and in setting up the foundation for fruitful conversations by first defining the boundaries and basic concepts to ensure everyone understand each other.

Klas Themner

CISO/Deputy CEO at AMRA Medica

Klas Themner has, as AMRA’s Chief Information Security Officer, overall responsibility for the management of the company’s information security. Klas has been at AMRA since 2017, mostly in the role of COO, also keeping the role of deputy CEO. Before joining AMRA Medical he had 20+ years of experience as COO & CFO in a number of different listed medical device companies within advanced medical image processing and across all imaging modalities. Previously to Life Science, Klas spent 10 years with the Swedish defense industry. He has an engineering background and holds a PhD in Nuclear Physics from Lund University.

Lorena Carthy-Wilmot

Senior advisor in Digital Policing (DPA) at Lillestrøm police station

Former Head of the Forensic Technology Services Lab at PwC in Oslo. Now Senior Advisor in the field of Digital Forensics at the Norwegian Police, East District.

Patrick-Kall

Future leader of cybersecurity sector at Einride

I'm a Senior Security Advisor within the IT/Telco domain with more than 25+ years in the industry.

Thea Sogenbits

CISO at Estonian Tax and Customs Board

Thea maintains tax secrecy of everyone in Estonia. As CISO of the Estonian Tax and Customs
Board she leads the security vision and information security management programme as well as the certified information security organization within the ETCB.

Her academic research focuses on the value chains and business models of professional
organized cross-border transnational cybercrime.

She trains and mentors military, public and private executives on hybrid defense and integration of next level defenses to organizational daily policies, practices and culture.

Thomas Evertsson

Head of IT security at DNB Bank

If you are looking for an efficient, Get the Job Done IT Manager with high ambitions then you've found the right person. I am inspired by a fast pace and successfully driving change, both organizational and technical. I see myself as a realistic optimist who is happy to share ideas and knowledge with others. Experience has taught me to be honest, cohesive and consistent, factors I see as important to success.

Tomi Dahlberg

Senior Advisor Cyber Security at State Treasury of Finland

My executive work, IT management and governance centric career started in 1976. I'm still passionate about these topics as they evolve all the time. Since 1984 I've worked in managerial and since 1988 in executive positions in business, academy and consulting (ABC). Business executive is my main career path.

I have worked in business executive positions in software (e.g. Unic), finance (e.g. Danske Bank), telecom operator (e.g. Elisa), nanotechnology, executive consultancy, and IT services. I have written 70+ publications both academic and practical as a part-time professor in business schools since the year 2000 . My research motive is to understand in depth issues that I conduct in business.

Executive work expertise areas: Corporate governance and board work, change management and leadership, strategy work & management, business models, business development, innovation management, finance.

IT executive expertise areas: governance and management of IT, OT, digital business and platform business, CIO/CDO work, IT service management, data management, business and IS development methods.

Benjamin Bauchmann

CISO at Ströer SE & Co. KGa

Speaking session - March 16th, 2023

Visibility is crucial: E-criminals will find your internet-facing assets you do not know much about

You can only protect the assets you know of, so it’s important to have a high visibility on all your internet-facing assets. Even more in times like these in which states/hackers/the bad guys try to cause havoc. They do not need to target you specifically, but they will find your assets, you do not know about.
Biography: If he had been in Troy then, the city would still be standing today. When it comes to security, most people rely on offerings to the IT gods. Not so Benjamin Bachmann, because he sees cyber security as a holistic issue that must consider and address the triad of people, organization and technology in equal measure. In other words, they form the foundation of a sustainable and livable security culture. An industrial engineer by training, he felt called to promulgate these early on on behalf of various consulting firms. Today, as Vice President Group Information Security at Ströer, he is responsible for the strategic security of the entire Group and develops implementable, useable and human-centered security concepts for the subsidiaries. Privately, he has been battling with his friends for years to see who can bake the best wholemeal sourdough bread, is on a sustainable journey and shows that cyber security is not dry-as-dust topic.

Tobias Ander

CISO at Örebro kommun

Speaking session - March 16th, 2023

Raising a cybersecurity culture! - Why is it so important?

Tobias will be delivering an insightful talk on how to comprehend the security implications of a futuristic security strategy. This talk will focus on the importance of incorporating the security function into crucial decisions, and will provide an overview of what such a strategy would look like. He will examine the emerging technologies in the field of security, and explore how they will influence the security strategies of tomorrow.
Biography: Tobias Ander got more than 20 years of experience in information security. Today he is CISO at Örebro Kommun, runs his own company Securebyme and recently released the book Informationssäkerhetskultur (Information security culture) in swedish. Tobias was awarded “This year’s GRC-profile” in 2017 for his commitment in Governance Risk and Compliance.

Ståle Risem-Johansen

CISO at Spare Bank

Experienced senior manager with 20+ within Energy sector as CIO and CISO. Chairman of the Board of Nationwide Security forum in Norway (Energy Sector) for 7 years. Confident with working with regulator and The Office of the Auditor General Strong relationship-builder always aiming to Learn more. If security is done the proper way it will become a business enabler. Currently hold the position as CISO in SpareBank 1 SMN – a part of SpareBank 1 alliance.

Raviv Raz

Cyber & AI Innovation at Ing

Speaking session - March 16th, 2023

How will AI impact CyberSecurity in near future

  • AI is gradually taking a prominent part in Cybersecurity
  • Recent developments in offensive AI pose, in a close future, threat to  conventional security measures, arming malicious hackers with a powerful  technology previously unavailable to the masses
  • Innovative Advancements on both sides of the force
  • Is AI going to help to save the security staffing shortage or lead to a dark future

Biography:
Raviv has pioneered and disrupted several domains in Cybersecurity including:

  • Network Access Control
  • Web Behaviour Analytics
  • Programming Language Processing

As part of his R&D work in ING he co-founded the CodeFix and PurpleAI innovation initiatives: reducing false-positive alerts in application security testing and using AI in offensive security testing.
Specialising in Application Security, Raviv has blogged, lectured, appeared in the news and released open-source tools used by tens of thousands of hackers.

Including R.U.D.Y that appeared on the TV show Mr. Robot