On 31 March 2020, the National Cyber Security Centre SK-CERT issued a security warning on the critical vulnerability of Vigor switches and routers from the company DrayTek. According to the company Netlab 360[1], this vulnerability has been found in approximately 100,000 devices. Although it is an older vulnerability for which updates were already provided on…
The spread of COVID – 19 has forced many companies and organizations to work remotely. While this precautionary measure is a good measure to care for employee’s health while maintaining good productivity, it also opens up opportunities for cyber attackers to exploit successful attacks. There are several ways to abuse the current situation: Unauthorized access…
A Chinese government has ordered all government offices and public institutions to withdraw software and hardware equipment coming from foreign suppliers within next three years. Replacement that involves approximately 20 to 30 million pieces of equipment and systems will be carried out according to a 3-5-2 key, i.e. 30% of the equipment will be replaced…
On 26 March, the National Cyber Security Centre SK-CERT became the first certified Slovak CSIRT in the Trusted Introducer, which joins CSIRTs around the world. To achieve “Certified” status, the team must meet demanding conditions based on a CSIRT Advanced Measurement System known as SIM3 (Security Incident Management Maturity Model). This model is used as…
The model of working from home, so-called “Home-office” or teleworking is in the current situation of quarantine measures due to the spread of COVID-19, a frequently used way for a large part of society and institutions to separate their employees and reduce the risk of transmitting the disease. At the same time, some of the…
A large number of companies and institutions have in recent days introduced a compulsory policy of working from home — a “home office”. It is realistic to assume that the transition to a “home office” will become a new reality for many of us, also considering that, according to the World Health Organisation, the spread…
The National Cyber Security Centre SK-CERT (hereinafter referred to as SK-CERT) warns all public authorities, organizations of state administration and municipalities about underestimating the importance of cybersecurity in the current situation related to the spread of COVID-19. The operations (and services) of information technologies of public administration have a direct and significant impact on the…
The National Cyber Security Centre SK-CERT warns operators of essential services in the health sector (hospitals, healthcare providers, testing laboratories and other healthcare facilities), as well as all other organizations of public administration and operators of essential services in other sectors against possible increasing of cyber threats and attacks on their systems and networks. As…
On 3 March 2020, the National Cyber Security Centre SK-CERT published the first Recommendations for operators of essential services to ensure a high level of availability of their services. On Sunday, 15 March 2020, the Government of the Slovak Republic agreed on the Declaration of Emergency State according to Article 5 of the Constitutional Act…
As reported in a previous warning on February 27, 2020 attackers are trying to exploit the situation where people are afraid and uncertain about the spread of COVID-19. In such situations, people are prone to believe various and false reports about COVID-19 and thus have a reduced ability to detect harmful content. The National Cyber Security…
