Cyber attacks and attempts at influence are commonplace for operators.
Various cyber attacks and attempts to influence are constantly being made against Finnish organizations and individual citizens. There are tens of thousands of denial-of-service attacks in Finland alone. More prominently, various scam messages are probably more visible in people’s daily lives, and there have been a lot of things on the move now.
Unfortunately, scam messages are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, operators are constantly collaborating with various players to prevent larger attacks from succeeding and thus paralyzing even important functions.
Telia’s Chief Security Officer Kalle Kaasalainen Telia said at the company ‘s press conference that Telia is both obliged and committed to maintain critical services also during the emergency. This requires constant work on the topic, even when there are no effects on it.
“Attacks and sabotages”
Kaasalainen mentioned system-wide vulnerabilities, attacks on services and scams against both individuals and company staff as various threats. According to Kaasalainen, in the last six months, a lot has been improved in these areas and preparations have been intensified.
– Although things have been improved, it is not enough. Surprising things like attacks and sabotages can nonetheless be encountered. However, preparedness for crises is constant, and we will recognize well if something happens. The threshold to react and identify threats has been lowered and events are going through more than normal, Kaasalainen said.
Kaasalainen stated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been reflected in various ways in Finland and caused tasks. However, the attack methods have been similar to those under so-called normal conditions. For example, the aforementioned denial-of-service attacks are commonplace.
At the event, Kaasalainen also considered whether the situation is now “ahead of the storm”, ie Russia’s gaze is still elsewhere than in Finland, but with the NATO discussion, for example, the situation may change.
– (Russia’s) actions towards Finland can be expected around the NATO process. We have tried to prepare for this as well as we can, and to ensure that the services work and stay up and running, Kaasalainen said.
Telia’s Vice President, Security Services Toni Vartiainen also stated at the same press conference that where cyber-attacks targeted the commercial side before the war in Ukraine, the attackers have now moved to the state side and other motives have come along.
Virtanen also emphasized the responsibility of companies and organizations in protecting themselves.
– Finland has been able to hedge in the corporate sector. Services and networks are secure, but that is not enough. The situation can be described as a padlock that protects about 80 percent of attackers. If there are precise motives, one will surely come through with a sway.
– The responsibility for cyber security lies with the companies in the final games, and they cannot fully outsource risk management, but in the final games it is borne by the company’s management. This has been a big change in mindset, and I’ve noticed an awakening in it this spring.
Not everything is put on one hand
Also the technical director of DNA Ville Virtanen raised the same issues in the company’s press release. He went through how well the network connections are secured in Finland. Emergencies have been prepared for and the most important thing is to ensure continuity, even in the event of a network outage.
Virtanen said that preparations have been made for the breakdown of base stations and the interruption of power lines.
– In the event of a power outage, each base station will operate on batteries for several hours, during which the majority of the fault can be rectified. If electricity companies do not appear to be able to recover power quickly enough, generators or other back-up power plants will be transported to critical sites to ensure electricity supply.
Virtanen highlighted the double backup of the core, backbone and regional networks, ie they are built with two fibers and two routes. Even if one of the cables suffers, the services will continue to operate over the other physical cable.
Virtanen says that the equipment facilities serving the core networks are not centralized, but are located in several locations across Finland, which improves operational reliability in the event of disruptions and crises.
According to Virtanen, citizens can also prepare for disruptions.
The best way to increase peace of mind is to do double backup on a personal level as well, i.e. get more than one terminal and more than one network connection at home. Companies are offered SLA-level connections, where the availability of the service is verified by both fixed and mobile connections, Virtanen advises.
Targeted attacks
Denial-of-service attacks are a threat that can crash services for long periods of time. DNA also highlighted these attacks. According to DNA, denial-of-service attacks cannot be prevented with 100% certainty, but proactive measures can significantly reduce their impact.
Telian Virtanen stated that it has been frightening in the denial-of-service attacks that they have come as pulses, and not so much as one big wave.
– No dramatic change has been observed, but we have seen well-targeted and timed denial-of-service attacks, Virtanen said, referring to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the Finnish Parliament, when the pages of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense were temporarily overthrown.