Tyrol expert says companies need resources to improve cyber defences

Companies need specialists, expertise and funding to guard against cyberattacks, David Winkler, an IT security expert in Tyrol, told ORF after attacks on BBT SE and cooling systems. No system is completely secure, he said.

Winkler said company executives and even some IT technicians often had little understanding of how hackers operate. Businesses could believe their security could not be improved further, he said, but a review from a hacker’s perspective often reveals weaknesses.

Attacks can be prevented, Winkler said, but the necessary specialists, expertise and money are increasingly scarce. He compared IT design to construction: buildings are not built without structural engineers, and doing so eventually has consequences. IT systems, by contrast, often grow organically and accumulate weaknesses. They should be designed from the outset to reduce vulnerabilities, he said.

Artificial intelligence makes it possible to carry out cyberattacks without expert knowledge, Winkler said. Companies need to invest time, expertise and money in reducing vulnerabilities. Otherwise, anything that can be controlled through IT could also be controlled by attackers.

Winkler said nine in ten companies were insecure and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Whether they are targeted can partly be a matter of luck. Technical staff should learn more about how hackers operate, he said, adding that it is possible to avoid attacks for a long time or limit their impact.

Winkler is regularly called in by companies facing ransom demands. He advises them to decide in advance whether they would pay, depending on whether they have a plan B. One argument for paying would be having no backups and no data left, if a ransom payment could potentially restore access to the data.