The next level of cyber defence

As our reliance on the internet continues to expand into every area of our lives, the threat from cyber attacks and hacking are never far from the headlines. This month, Horizon looks at how Europe can keep its digital borders intact. We find out how artificial intelligence is learning on the job to better detect security breaches and how the unique way that you interact with your phone or computer could be used to verify your digital identity. Plus, we find out what the EU is doing to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids from an increased threat of attack.

Cyber criminals target critical infrastructure such as power stations because of the potential to destabilise large parts of society, says Georg Peter. Image credit: ERNCIP

ICT, Interview

Critical infrastructures under daily attack – ERNCIP head Georg Peter

Critical infrastructures such as railway networks, power stations and telephone grids are under daily attack by cyber criminals, according to Georg Peter, who is responsible for the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERNCIP), an important part of the EU response to help countries defend their assets.

Dr Alexander Kröller is researching the risk that hacking and viruses pose to self-driving cars. Image courtesy of Dr Alexander Kröller

Interview, Transport, ICT

Hackers could blackmail owners of self-driving cars - Dr Alexander Kröller, TomTom

Automated vehicles have the potential to revolutionise our day-to-day lives, but these kind of cyber-physical systems are vulnerable to attack by criminals. Horizon spoke with Dr Alexander Kröller, a research manager at Dutch navigation company TomTom, to explore the risks that hacking and viruses pose to self-driving cars.

Level 3 automation, where the car handles all aspects of driving with the driver on standby, is being tested in Sweden. Image courtesy of Volvo cars

Transport

Split-second decisions – navigating the fine line between man and machine

Today’s self-driving car isn’t exactly autonomous – the driver has to be able to take over in a pinch, and therein lies the roadblock researchers are trying to overcome.

Cybersecurity tools should be like a car safety belt – an essential part of a modern vehicle, rather than an add-on, say researchers. Image credit: Pixabay/ Unsplash

ICT

Keystrokes and login behaviour could protect your online identity

The tendency for people to be creatures of habit is being put to good use in the cybersecurity industry, thanks to new identification software that uses typical login times and locations, keystroke dynamics and in-app behaviour to verify if someone is who they say they are.

Algorithms can detect whether code is business as usual or an attack. Credit: Pixabay/ markusspiske

ICT, Open Innovation

Artificial intelligence being turned against spyware

Artificial intelligence teaches computers to spot malicious tinkering with their own code.

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