This year’s first Europe Breakfast kicked off on a crisp, snowy morning at Restaurant Passion, led by JEF Central Finland’s chairperson Saija Halme and secretary Emilia Peikola. The short but all the more focused opening packed in an efficient rundown of JEF Finland’s activities, goals and upcoming events of interest — one example being an excursion to Europe planned for this autumn in cooperation with JEF Tampere. The destination remains a surprise for now.
After the opening and a delicious breakfast, the floor went to the eagerly awaited keynote speaker, Professor Martti Lehto from the University of Jyväskylä, who brought with him an important and topical subject. Cybersecurity and its effects in today’s world are a phenomenon that concerns everyone. Both ordinary citizens and companies are connected to the network, which creates its own zones of benefit and risk, making it essential to protect against new threats. Protecting yourself doesn’t have to be complicated — at the end of this piece, we’re also sharing the 10 tips listed in the presentation to help you take better care of your own cybersecurity.
Deep in the network
Professor Lehto opened his presentation by setting the scene through history. The first cyberattacks began just 15 years ago, but have since developed at an even wilder pace in recent years. The internet is such a recent invention, and originally such a “homemade system”, that its structure is fundamentally flawed when it comes to security. When you add to this already fragile system the five domains of a changing world — time, data, networks, intelligence and robotics — we can identify the clear drivers of the phenomenon. Even these first observations sparked deep reflection in the audience. Even though we recognise these factors, the question remains: how well are we actually able to act on them in practice?
With his fresh and humorous style, Lehto guided listeners into serious matters. In a single minute, an incredible amount of data moves across the network. The main themes to emerge were people’s heavy use of the internet, advancing technology, and even artificial intelligence and its possible significance in the future. Today, 73% of the world’s population already uses a mobile phone. The topics were carried by cases familiar to the audience — cases that shook the world and showed the network’s potential power on a broad scale. Among his examples, Lehto highlights the stock market manipulation of April 2013 as one of the most eye-opening. By hacking the news agency AP’s Twitter account and publishing false information that President Obama had been injured in an explosion at the White House, Syrian hackers managed to move the stock market to their own advantage. Cases like this have only recently begun to alert major companies and other actors to the real dangers that can be carried out in today’s world with even very limited resources. Lehto’s examples, however, weren’t left grim — solutions were also on offer. Lehto highlighted cyber policy and its development as an important part of the optimal way forward.
Future outlooks
The audience also had plenty of good and topical comments and questions on the subject. The domestic situation regarding cybersecurity and the reform of intelligence laws was of particular interest, as were the biggest threat factors in Europe. In addition, possible future changes in technology came up for discussion, such as the growing use of identification chips in people. Lehto even ventured a guess that by 2050 it could be possible for chip use to reach all of humanity. Finally, we had the chance to ask the professor for further comments on cybersecurity in the European Union and Finland.
The biggest factor advancing cybersecurity in the EU was identified as the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats project, which highlights the kind of cooperation between actors in threat-prevention work that Lehto mentioned. Asked about Finland, Lehto states that the country holds a great deal of potential in individual-level expertise. One example raised was the cybersecurity company Codenomicon, built on the work of the University of Oulu’s secure programming research group, which has gained international recognition. It can therefore be said that expertise and specialisation in Finland are world-class. The Europe Breakfast was, in every respect, a successful event, offering a refreshing start to the week with important topics, as well as a chance for relaxed conversation in good company. The event filled up in record time, and we’ve already received requests for similar events in future. To stay up to date on our events, be sure to follow our social media channels and stay involved in the buzz going forward.
Welcome to join us next time!
Finally, here are 10 solid tips for improving your own cybersecurity:
- Use reliable security software and keep it updated
- Everything you put online stays there forever
- All encryption and access restrictions can be broken – but use a strong password anyway (a different one per service), and don’t save it in your browser
- Only handle financial matters through your own trusted bank
- Don’t contact strangers online
- Don’t open suspicious emails, especially attachments
- USB sticks are a risk factor
- Set up a working backup system
- If something online seems too good to be true, it’s very likely a scam
- Healthy scepticism is needed in everything you do online
TEXT Amani Al-mehsen
Pictured: Professor of Cybersecurity Martti Lehto from the University of Jyväskylä and Amani Al-mehsen.