Not all governments and organizations in the Netherlands are yet sufficiently protected against cyber attacks. The National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) writes this in the report on Monday Cyber Security Assessment Netherlands 2020.
According to the NCTV, the digital resilience of Dutch society is not yet sufficient everywhere. By this resilience, the coordinator means the ability of governments and organizations to limit digital risks as much as possible. According to the NCTV, digital resilience in the Netherlands is partly lagging because systems are not updated on time. Also, employees are not always informed about the dangers of phishing.
According to the coordinator, the digital threat to Dutch society remains “undiminished”. Cyber incidents can cause enormous damage, according to the NCTV. In extreme cases, they can cause “social disruption”, especially because different systems are linked together.
Vulnerabilities in systems are actively exploited. This is mainly due to cyber criminals and state actors, writes the coordinator. That is why the NCTV calls for the rapid detection and closure of vulnerabilities in software and systems.
‘Cybercrime remains important’
There was no question of large-scale social disruption due to cyber attacks in 2019 and early 2020, the NCTV reports. However, recent impactful cyber incidents are pointed out, such as the attack with ransomware at Maastricht University and the national outage of 112 at KPN.
“It cannot be ruled out that disruption due to cyber attacks or large-scale failure will take place in the Netherlands, even if this has never been the case,” writes Minister Ferd Grapperhaus (Justice and Security). He believes that tackling cybercrime is still important. “That demands our constant attention.”
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