Ireland needs to improve its defences to guard against future cyber attacks
'Like other countries, there are challenges to Ireland in the cyberattacks we face, including those from other states or malign actors aligned to those states, as well as those who want to hack State infrastructure systems for financial, political or ideological reasons.'
He said it is important that we know the State has a plan in place to combat any major cyberattack in the future.
'We also need to address situations where critical infrastructure may be brought down. This could be in health, transport, financial services, Government payments or energy.' he added.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) cited 2023 as being its busiest year in recent memory. At that time, it received 5,200 cyber reports with 721 incidents which represented a threat to a network and required a response.
In their most recent report, the NCSC found there is enough evidence and information in a number of those cases to attribute activity to specific foreign intelligence and security agencies.
'Everyone will remember May 2021, when the HSE faced a major ransomware attack. We know that the costs to date have been more than €150 million, not to mention the many lives that were undoubtedly lost because of the attack,' continued Deputy Byrne.
In response the Minister for Justice Jim O' Callaghan said the NCSC has had a significant increase in its resources since then.
'Back in 2011, the NCSC only had four staff. At the end of 2024, it had 75 staff and an annual budget of €12 million. There is also a commitment in budget 2025 that the number of staff will increase by a further 30, bringing it to more than 100 employees.' he added.
The NCSC has come within the jurisdictional control of the Department of Justice meaning they have departmental and ministerial responsibility for issues concerning cyber threat attacks.
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Considering the threat posed to the country, Minister O' Callaghan deemed the change 'appropriate.'
'Last July, the Government gave its approval to the priority drafting of the national cybersecurity Bill, which is currently being undertaken by my Department. It will give the NCSC specific powers to engage in a range of scanning-type activities to identify systems vulnerable to specific exploits.' he added.
In conclusion, Deputy Byrne welcomed the fact that the NCSC is now within the remit of the Department of Justice but insisted more investment is needed.
'In the same way we rightly hold countries to account for actions in wars on the ground, we need to hold them to account where they act in a malign way in cyberspace.'
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
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