Irish Examiner view: We can’t afford to take chances with cybersecurity
Remote logins within parts of our civil service were shut down over the weekend as the Government chief IT officer raised concerns about 'a potential security vulnerability affecting some of our perimeter hardware'.
Our concerns about cybersecurity — about security, full stop — are now focused on artificial intelligence (AI), and with good reason.
This week, we learned that two of the leading companies in the field, OpenAI and Anthropic, are investigating thousands of security incidents involving their products.
However, we should not lose sight of the fact that threats to our online security can take many other forms.
As Tadgh McNally reported this week, remote logins within parts of our civil service were shut down over the weekend as the Government chief IT officer raised concerns about “a potential security vulnerability affecting some of our perimeter hardware”.
This is deeply concerning, given just how much of the interaction between the public and the State takes place online.
The prospect of a shutdown such as this is doubly challenging because not only are such public interactions threatened, so are essential administrative functions of the civil service which are not public-facing.
It is also worth pointing out that the weekend’s shutdown had a direct impact on remote working, a practice also vulnerable to less sophisticated threats.
In December 2024, this newspaper reported that the gardaí were preparing a file for the DPP regarding a woman suspected of unlawfully accessing customer accounts while working from home for a company contracted by Electric Ireland.
It was suspected that photographs were taken of the credit card numbers appearing of those accounts when they appeared onscreen.
Many civil servants are privy to equally sensitive personal information.
The civil service shutdown coincides with the news that another large organisation has now strengthened its cyber-security measures.
Cormac O’Keeffe reported here that Munster Technological University (MTU) bolstered its cybersecurity after a serious ransomware attack in February 2023, but the eventual cost of response, recovery, and resilience projects was estimated by the Government to be around €3.5m.
That is a significant amount, but with so much of our lives now conducted online, we cannot afford to take any chances with cybersecurity.
Readers who are not following current affairs in Spain may not be aware of widespread protests in recent weeks, with people taking to the streets of Madrid and Barcelona.
Last Saturday, an estimated 30,000 people marched through the Spanish capital in support of Maricarmen Abascal, whose case has become a sensation in her country.
Ms Abascal, 87, was evicted on a stretcher from her Madrid home on foot of an eviction order won by the investment fund that purchased her apartment.
She had lived in the apartment for 70 years and had always paid her rent.
Her supporters claim that when the investment fund raised her monthly rent to €2,650, it represented an increase of 275%. Unable to pay, she was duly evicted.
The reaction in Spain has been one of outrage, not least because of the country’s housing crisis.
Leading newspaper said the eviction case offered a glimpse of a housing market disconnected from those on average incomes in Spain, adding: “The law was upheld, and the market worked. But it is the law of the jungle in a broken market, and it is a failure.”
That is difficult to contradict when rents in Spain have risen by 80% in the last decade, and the cost of homes has risen by 63%.
Ms Abascal’s case appears to have been resolved, with the fund that evicted her now agreeing to her returning to her apartment, and at a rent similar to the pre-eviction level.
It remains to be seen if the case will lead to legislative change in Spain, though politicians seem sympathetic to protesters’ calls for a stop to evictions carried out on behalf of vulture funds and large investment firms.
There are obvious parallels here with our own housing crisis, but one significant difference may be the lack of a Maricarmen Abascal story.
An Irish equivalent might become a focal point for disaffection — and for action.
Last month, Alex Cunningham and Alan Healy reported on an interesting story in west Waterford — namely, Meta’s billionaire chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s purchase of Strancally Castle with his wife, Priscilla Chan.
Strancally sits on a 440-acre estate on the banks of the Blackwater, near the village of Knockanore in west Waterford, and at the time we pointed out that it was not clear how much time Mr Zuckerberg planned on spending in the new digs.
However, we added that he “could perhaps expect a knock on his front door.
He does not have an ownership stake in any professional sports teams, unlike many of his peers, so perhaps Waterford GAA will persuade him to get on board with their county teams”.
Fast forward to this week, when Martin Claffey reported here that Mr Zuckerberg and Ms Chan are to donate €150,000 to three GAA clubs in the area: “The three clubs — Shamrocks GAA in Knockanore, Tallow GAA in Tallow, and Lismore GAA in Lismore — will each receive €50,000. The donations will be paid to the clubs over a two-year period, with each club receiving €25,000 per year.”
The clubs all expressed their thanks to the donors for their generosity — Tallow GAA described it as the biggest single donation in its 139-year history — while they each indicated a common desire to use the funds to improve their facilities.
With Mr Zuckerberg and Ms Chan describing themselves as “new members of the Waterford community”, it is good to see them making such a tangible contribution.
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