Cybersecurity Challenges in Greece

Over the past decade, there has been an impressive increase in cyberattacks, ranging from ransomware to IoT DDoS attacks. These cyberattacks are typically driven by financially motivated cybercriminals. Their goals often include:

• Charging credit cards
• Emptying bank accounts
• Asking for ransom

Recognizing the severity of this problem, the European Commission has started building a sequence of defenses, including the European Cyber Shield. While most of Europe is actively building defenses against cyberattacks, Greece unfortunately lags behind in several key areas. For instance:

• According to the ENISA map of CSIRTs, Greece has a very small number of operating CSIRTs (per capita) compared to other European countries of similar size.
• Despite having fewer defenses, Greece experiences a high number of cyberattacks, with much more intensity compared to countries of similar size. Recent studies have highlighted Greece’s vulnerability to phishing attacks. For example, according to a report from Ekathimerini, Greece was ranked 5th in the world for phishing scams in Q3 of 2021.

Addressing the Cybersecurity Problem in Greece

To effectively address these cyberattacks, Greece needs a new generation of vibrant Security Operations Centers (SOCs) capable of monitoring a large portion of the Internet for attack signals.

C-SOC proposes the development of such a Security Operation Center on the island of Crete. Supported by FORTH, one of the leading research centers in the area of Cybersecurity, C-SOC will:

• Use advanced AI approaches to detect even weak signals of cyberattacks
• Capitalize on the more than 60,000 IP addresses available to FORTH to build an effective “network telescope”

C-SOC has a multi-phase expansion plan:

1. Initially offer its services to FORTH
2. Expand to SMEs at the Science and Technology Park in the second phase
3. Eventually expand to SMEs throughout Crete in the third phase