iGuRu.gr presents an exclusive interview with Mr. Christos Ventouris. THE Christos Ventouris is Information Security Specialist of Symantec in Southeast Europe.
The aim of this interview is to inform the Greek Internet community about the threats within the borders, the skills of the domestic IT and their readiness. In general, we will try to make a first mapping of the security landscape in Greece for our readers.
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iGuRu.gr: Reading Symantec's Mega Breach report has created the question. Were there major data leakages (Mega Breach) in Greece?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: In the latest ISTR 19 report, we defined as "mega breach" the violation that led to the report of more than 10 million records. There was no record or publication of a breach of this magnitude in the Greek market.
iGuRu.gr: In the data you disclosed in ISTR 19 you mention that in 2013, Greece had a downward trend in the overall picture of Internet Security Threat profile of the world. What can the reduction of cyber attacks in Greece mean, while globally there has been an increase?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: In fact, the assumption that there is a reduction in online attacks in Greece does not reflect reality. Overall we have seen an increase in the number of attacks. The world ranking for Greece was 43's 2013 position compared to 42 and 2012, but only because there was a slightly smaller increase in attacks from the global average. This is a normal change that can happen from one year to the next.
iGuRu.gr: Is Greece ready for major online events? businesses, online government system and the upcoming IoT?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: As far as information security is concerned, there is both the potential and the talent needed to support businesses and the government in building secure infrastructure. Technologies are available with leading vendors such as Symantec, which has a local office in Greece and supports the market.
iGuRu.gr: In addition to Symantec's commercial activity in Greece, is the company doing other actions?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: We provide training to our partners and resellers on a regular basis so as to keep them informed and familiar with new and innovative technologies and solutions.
iGuRu.gr: Talk about greek malware, record activities and techniques?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: Of the tens of thousands of samples we receive and analyze daily, we have not seen any characteristic differences when examining virus samples originating from Greece. Some samples I've personally seen, mostly based on already known tools that could easily be blocked by advanced technologies detections, such as those used by Symantec for its security software.
iGuRu.gr: Are there any Remote Access Tool (RAT) cases on mobile devices in Greece?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: We've detected malware on mobile. Most of these were not RAT tools as we know them in general, but they were monitoring the user's activities, sending SMS to premium, high-cost services, and bypassing user information such as contacts, messages,
iGuRu.gr: Is there privacy on the web?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: In today's world with sophisticated cutting-edge technologies being created on a daily basis, the privacy of internet users can be threatened at any time. They mainly concern information that is revealed online to websites by users, such as by using social media or sending credit card information to various websites. As for how users can protect themselves, that's a big debate. General guidelines could summarize advice such as that home users should update themselves online about their protection and corporate users should maintain company compliance policy.
We thank Christos Ventouris for his replies, which outline a portrait of online security in Greece very soon.
As a main and quite optimistic point of this interview, we hold that Greece has the know-how and talents to set up and protect online infrastructures. Knowledge, information and prevention, in addition to reliable tools, appear to be the main weapons to combat online threats.
