The head of the National Cyber Security Authority, Michalis Bletsas, was in the studio of the Economic Post Office, as part of Beyond 2024, and spoke about the challenges of the newly established Authority and also about cyber security issues.
“We are not safe anywhere, so not even in cyberspace,” said Mr. Bletsas to add that a characteristic of this space is that “it brings us into contact with many people, so the challenges are many.”
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“I will try to make you sleep with open windows on your computer” he said characteristically, when asked about the role of EAK. As he clarified, the mission of the Authority is to set the standards for the cyber security services of organizations and to check whether these standards are met.
We monitor developments, what is happening in cyberspace, and we set standards, we try to ensure that these standards are implemented where possible, he stressed. He added that there is no such thing as absolute security, but the goal is to make the work of malicious people on the internet more difficult. “Our mission is to make the lives of malicious people more difficult,” he said.
The challenges
As Mr. Bletsas said, until today the Authority had the supervision of 70 bodies, however, with the new European directive, organizations mainly of the public sector are added. As a result, today it is estimated that the number of supervised organizations will jump between 2,000 and 4,000.
In response to a related question, he said that among the bodies supervised by the Authority is gov.gr, with which they are actually under the same ministry, and where, of course, there is no classified information.
According to Mr. Bletsa, one of the biggest challenges he faces in this phase is the staff from the 42 people who are currently there to exceed 150, to add that he has been pleasantly surprised at multiple levels by many executives of the Authority.
The European elections
Regarding the upcoming European elections, Mr. Bletsas said that the elections are irrelevant because we simply do not vote electronically, with the main problem remaining misinformation. At this point, the commander of the National Cyber Security Authority emphasized that it is “a shame to invite foreign observers for the elections”.
“If we should be proud of something, it’s that we have unbiased elections” he added while recalling the serious related problem that exists in the United States.
Especially regarding disinformation in the run-up to the European elections, he said that there must be cooperation with foreign bodies, while noting that a “hybrid war” has been going on with Russia in recent years, something that has been seen both in recent electoral contests and with the Brexit referendum in Britain .
“There will definitely be propaganda ahead of the European elections,” he said while stressing that “on the internet we shouldn’t take anything at face value, especially older people who have learned to believe what they see written.”
