Digital technology and cybersecurity: a summer full of challenges

To be demanding, you must lead by example. If you forget this, trust erodes. We have too often lamented organizations’ lack of investment in protecting their digital assets to be surprised by the massive cyberattacks that government agencies faced this summer. It’s a French problem. Businesses are not exempt either. Far too many, especially among the smallest businesses, which are now prime targets, only take action once they’re faced with a data breach or network congestion. By then, it’s too late.

As for the government, it is paradoxical, to say the least, that it sought to require citizens to prove their identity to access their favorite social media platforms, with the aim of barring access to those under 15, while simultaneously demonstrating an inability to protect them. Repeated ad nauseam by political leaders, “protecting” has not, however, become a reality. Beyond the coincidence of dates, between the Constitutional Council’s partial censorship of the “Law Aimed at Protecting Minors from the Risks Posed by the Use of Social Media” and the Ministry of Finance’s acknowledgment of “unauthorized access to the information system of the Directorate General of Public Finance”, these events raise the question of whether the state still has the capacity to be the trusted third party it would like to embody.

Only a radical shift in approach can counter this communication crisis

Open bar. The litany of thefts and incidents, affecting the Ministries of Economy (where the personal information of 700,000 taxpayers is now out in the open), Education, and the Interior, as well as the National Agency for Secure Documents (ANTS), with 12 million accounts compromised, to name only the most recent and significant attacks, only reinforces the impression that our data is up for grabs, that highwaymen or sorcerer’s apprentices will be eager to capitalize on it through scams and phishing schemes, which they then deploy on a massive scale. In this regard, citizens end up paying twice: first for outdated and aging systems, a problem exacerbated by the fragmentation of resources and structures, and second for the scams they subsequently fall victim to.

The attack vectors show that most incidents stem from the misuse of legitimate access rather than technical feats. The problem is not solely one of IT architecture. It also relates to the governance of access permissions and training, aimed at raising staff awareness so that they adopt even the most basic security rules.

Only a radical shift in approach can counter this communication crisis. At a time when an increasing number of French citizens, many of whom are considering voting for radical parties, lament the erosion of the state, even as it remains ever more present through its regulations and taxes, the state must regain its composure to command respect. If it intends to set the standard for security, the government must, above all, be its guarantor. There is an urgent need to secure public infrastructure, as the Prime Minister has clearly understood by taking charge of the issue. Logic dictates that digital issues, which are so central and essential, should now be handled by a high commissioner reporting directly to the Prime Minister, for the sake of visibility and coordination. There will always be time to legislate on usage later.

This article was originally published in French in l’Opinion