The International Cyber Security Exercise “Cyber Shield 2019”, organized by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Information Technologies and Communication Authority with the support of the International Telecommunication Union, has begun.
This year, for the first time, the Cyber Security Exercise—where the technical infrastructure, preparation of questions, software, and evaluations were handled by the BTK—has started with the participation of approximately 90 competitors from 19 teams in 17 different countries, including Turkey. The event was attended by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan, Deputy Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and Selim Dursun, as well as the President of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, along with numerous guests.
In his opening speech, Minister Turhan emphasized that people are more intertwined with information and communication technologies than ever before, stating, "Information and communication technologies, which are developing day by day, have become an inseparable part of our lives. These technologies are advancing at an unimaginable speed, multiplying quality and efficiency. Our broadband subscriber count has reached 75.3 million. In other words, our broadband penetration rate is around 92%. Our mobile broadband internet subscriber density is at 75%. In our country with a population of 82 million, we have reached approximately 45 million e-government users. We offer more than 5,000 services from 636 institutions through e-government. On the other hand, we continue our work on 5G and fiber infrastructure, which will be one of the most important agenda items in the coming years."
Expressing that the annual growth average in fiber broadband services, which began to be provided in Turkey since 2010, has been around 20% in recent years, Turhan said, "As of today, we have 3.1 million fiber subscribers. The infrastructure has developed in line with this growth in subscriber numbers. In this context, the number of reachable households, which was 9 million in the first half of 2015, has exceeded 14 million as of today, marking an increase of around 55% in the last 4 years. Additionally, our fiber infrastructure length during this period has increased by 40% to exceed 371 thousand kilometers. In the coming period, our technical and legal studies with relevant stakeholders will continue to accelerate and facilitate the installation of fiber infrastructures."
Minister Turhan: We Have Taken Our Position Against Cyber Threats
Noting that cyber attackers are conducting increasingly complex, high-impact, and global-scale activities in cyberspace day by day, Turhan stated: "This situation causes individuals, institutions, and even multiple countries to be affected simultaneously. Therefore, the issue of cyber security needs to be taken seriously. At the same time, trying to see potential security vulnerabilities from the attackers' perspective and taking precautions in advance is of great importance. We have taken our position against this threat and have established our National Cyber Incident Response Organization. To enhance cyber security; in May 2013, we established our National Cyber Incident Response Center, namely USOM, and formed cyber incident response teams. We are strengthening day by day with the establishment of new teams. Under USOM coordination, we have established cyber incident response teams in approximately 1,300 institutions and organizations. These teams operate on a 7-24 principle, monitoring our critical systems and conducting intervention and coordination activities against cyber incidents. As of today, we have created a structure where 3,774 cyber security experts from 1,300 institutions and organizations share cyber security notifications, threat, and attack information in real-time."
Turhan added that he views the International Cyber Shield 2019 Exercise as an important event that all participants will benefit from in increasing incident response capabilities and readiness levels, addressing cyber risks and impacts with a common understanding, and reducing cyber threats.
Deputy Minister Sayan: More Than 136 Thousand Attacks Reported to USOM in 2019
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan also drew attention to the opportunities and dangers of rapidly advancing technology. Sayan said, "Cyber attacks are continuously increasing worldwide. As a country, we have set to work to protect ourselves from these attacks and the damages they cause."
Emphasizing that technology is a guiding force not only in scientific and economic terms but also in social, legal, ethical, political, and global balance aspects, Sayan stated, "While rapidly advancing technology brings new opportunities, it can also cause unexpected dangers. Cyber attacks are continuously increasing worldwide. As a country, we have set to work to protect ourselves from these attacks and the damages they cause. We continue our activities to ensure national cyber security in line with the realities of the age, the sector, and life, under the National Cyber Incident Response Center (USOM)."
Sayan expressed that the number of cyber attacks reported to USOM by electronic communication operators was 8,625 in 2016, 99,600 in 2017, and 72,975 last year, and it has been recorded as 136,411 this year.
Pointing out that USOM teams, as the most important component of the cyber security organization, conduct effective studies with stakeholders regarding threats and attacks before and after incidents, Sayan said, "We experience many scenarios and practices included in this international exercise on a daily basis with our stakeholders. We implement specific attack types on real systems through tests, simulations, and exercises even at night hours and weekends before they occur."
Stating that they are aware of the threats and aim to be prepared with the measures taken before attacks even happen, Sayan emphasized the importance of domestic and national software sensitivity in these studies. Sayan said they continue to increase human resource capacity both quantitatively and qualitatively through cyber security trainings, competitions, and exercises, and underlined that today's event is important in terms of developing international cooperation.
Deputy Minister Sayan drew attention to the fact that infrastructure developed with internal resources will be used in the exercise and added: "During the exercise, which includes scenarios on different topics, cyber attacks will continue uninterruptedly, and teams consisting of experts in various fields of cyber security such as malicious software analysts, penetration testing experts, network security experts, and industrial control system security experts will try to detect vulnerabilities in systems and applications, as well as malicious software."
President Karagözoğlu: We Closely Follow International Efforts
BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu stated that ensuring cyber security is no longer just a necessity to combat threats in technology-intensive areas, saying, "Cyber security vulnerabilities have become one of the important factors affecting the welfare and security of nations due to the risks they create in social and economic life."
Emphasizing the need for cooperation to combat these dangers, Karagözoğlu said that BTK follows the works of international organizations and contributes to them.
Expressing that they also participate in international cyber security exercises, Karagözoğlu stated, "In today's exercise, with our technical infrastructure and scenarios developed under USOM, we aim to provide participants with practical cyber security experience on one hand, and to share knowledge on the steps to be taken in possible cyber attacks on the other."
Following the speeches, Minister Turhan launched Cyber Shield 2019. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony held on December 20, 2019.