Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1395902
12 MITA's Security Operations Centre safeguards digital security to ensure government offers the best services to citizens. This requires continuous monitoring. So how important is it that training and systems used are also continuously updated? Brian Borg Tabone: The digital world changes at a fast pace and we are frequently seeing new digital attacks using special techniques and tactics. It is because of this fast pace that both our knowledge and our systems need to be updated continuous- ly. The staff at MITA's Security Operations Centre are kept up to date on new emerging threats and trained on how to defend against these attacks, while the moni- toring systems are updated to automatically respond to known threats and assist the SOC ana- lysts in their day-to-day work. It is imperative that the client does his part. Awareness campaigns are vital to educate the users in detecting common attacks such as phishing and reacting, by taking appropriate actions, in response to such attacks. It is important that clients have their end-point devic- es updated with the latest software patches installed to protect their own data and ultimately contrib- ute to a safer network. What types of attacks targeting the government's infrastructure are most common? How pro-active is MITA, in trying to prepare for what could happen, instead of reacting to attacks? Roderick Lia: There are various types of at- tacks. Currently, phishing is at the top of the list. Fraudsters organ- ise phishing campaigns with the intent to try and access our sys- tems illegally. Whilst phishing is a broad term, here we are referring to spear-phishing attacks, which are targeted, for example, against people in certain positions like finance or administration. Some targeted phishing is aimed at mak- ing administrators giving up their passwords. There is then brand- ing theft… for example MITA branding is constantly being used in phishing campaigns. In a phish- ing attack, attackers would use our branding and imaging to try and convince to the recipient that they are us. At first glance you might be fooled that it's authentic, but if, for maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JULY 2021 COMMERCIAL Cybersecurity and the need for constant vigilance