iGuRu.gr presents you an exclusive interview with Mr. Christos Ventouris. Christos Ventouris is an Information Security Specialist at Symantec in Southeastern Europe.
The aim of this interview is to inform the Greek online community about threats within the borders, the skills of domestic IT and their preparedness. More generally, we will try to carry out a first mapping of the security landscape in Greece, for our readers.
iGuRu.gr: Reading Symantec's report on Mega Breaches, the question arose: Were there major data leaks (Mega Breach) in Greece?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: In the last ISTR 19 report, we defined as a “mega breach” the breach that led to the exposure of more than 10 million records. There was no record or publication of a breach of this size in the Greek market.
iGuRu.gr: In the data you revealed at ISTR 19, you mention that in 2013, Greece had a downward trend in the overall picture of the Internet Security Threat Profile of the world. What could the decrease in cyber attacks in Greece mean, while globally there was an increase?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: In fact, the assumption that there is a decrease in cyber attacks in Greece does not reflect reality. Overall, we have seen an increase in the number of attacks. The global ranking for Greece was 43rd in 2013 compared to 42nd in 2012, but only because there was a slightly smaller increase in attacks than the global average. This is a normal variation that can occur from one year to the next.
iGuRu.gr: Is Greece ready for large online businesses, an online government system and the upcoming IoT?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: When it comes to information security, there is both the capabilities and the talent required to support businesses and government in building secure infrastructures. The 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, does the company carry out 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: Tell us about Greek malware, have you recorded activities and techniques?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: Of the tens of thousands of samples we receive and analyze daily, we have not seen any significant differences when examining virus samples originating from Greece. The few samples I have personally seen are mostly based on already known tools that could easily be blocked by advanced detection technologies, such as those used by Symantec for its security software.
iGuRu.gr: Are there any cases of Remote Access Tool (RAT) on mobile devices in Greece?
Mr. Ch. Ventouris: We have detected malware on mobile phones. Most of them were not RAT tools as we generally know them, but they monitored the user's activities, sent SMS to premium, high-cost services and intercepted the user's information, such as contacts, messages, etc.
iGuRu.gr: Is there privacy on the internet?
Mr. H. Ventouris: In the modern world with sophisticated cutting-edge technologies created on a daily basis, the privacy of Internet users can be threatened at any time. They mainly concern information that is disclosed online on websites by users, such as by using social media or sending credit card details to various websites. As for how users can protect themselves, this is a big debate. General guidelines could summarize advice such as that home users should be informed online about their protection and corporate users should maintain the company's compliance policy.
We thank Mr. Christos Ventouris for his answers, which very briefly sketch a portrait of online security in Greece.
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, seem to be the main weapons to combat online threats.
Source: secnews.gr
