IT Security, the new focus of attention

“PROFESSIONAL COMPLEX, with heterogeneous intentions and in perpetual evolution”. This is the alarming description of the cyber threat painted by the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI). After the explosion of ransomware, programs that paralyze a company’s computer systems and demand a ransom to unlock them, comes the wave of espionage and computer sabotage, she warns. In 2021, its fine bloodhounds were confronted with an unprecedented volume of destabilization actions starting with a computer compromise: on average, three proven intrusions per day targeting companies or communities. Many exploit a so-called “zero day” vulnerability due to lack of update of computer tools that plug their original flaws. «Our awareness-raising and support work, with companies and administrations, aims to elevate, within the entire Nation, the consideration of cyber risk at the right level, which is not yet the case, “explains Guillaume Poupard, the director of ANSSI.

In 2021, the French government made the cybersecurity strategy a national priority and is devoting €1 billion over five years. According to the 2022 Allianz Business Risk Barometer, cyberattacks rank first, while cybercrime cost the global economy nearly $6 trillion last year. From Saint-Gobain to Lactalis via Lise Charmel, all the French companies victims evoke a “terribly violent” episode. “It is no longer a technical subject, but a key subject for the company: it impacts the information that is now at the heart of the decision-making process,” warns Alexandre Papaemmanuel, specialist in industrial issues and lecturer at Sciences-Po. This is why, in recent years, explains Guillaume Tissier, co-organizer of the International Cybersecurity Forum, whose 2022 edition takes place on June 7 and 8 in Lille, “companies have been asked to prove: that they protect themselves against this systemic risk, that its assets are safe, and to extend this insurance to its partners”…