A recent security report issued by WRR or the Scientific Council for Government Policy related to Dutch Government says that the Netherlands is not well prepared for cyber attacks of large scale.
The report which was compiled by the members which include prominent social scientists, economists, and legal scholars says that the country is currently playing a gamble with the cyber threats by using various methods to mitigate risks which are scientifically not proven to be eminent to mitigate cyber-attacks.
“If an attack hits our critical infrastructure then there could be serious damage and casualties on a physical and digital note which could not only threaten the economy and national security but also can bring in political instability”, says the Council.
WRR says that over the years the Netherlands has done a lot to prevent attacks, but hasn’t done anything to limit the damage caused by the large scale attacks. This not only applies to the Dutch Government but also companies and society as a whole.
As companies, organizations and the government do not have a clear picture on the 3rd parties they are dependent on after attacks, we cannot guestimate the effects or the repercussions on a scale as of now.
Referring to the outage of 112 which took place early this year and the failure of KPN software to mitigate the risks at the right time, the WRR Council shows how poorly their country was prepared.
WRR suggests that companies, networks, and suppliers should be properly mapped to share the prerogative risks on time to avoid any economic or reputational embarrassments. At the same time, the Independent think tank run by the Dutch Government from Hague says that it is planning to compensate cyberattack victims, as cyber insurance companies are failing to cover such damages.
NOTE 1- WRR is referred to Wetenschappelijke Raad Voor Het Regeringsbeleid in Dutch and translates of Scientific Council for Government Policy in English.
NOTE 2- From early this year, Dutch National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism- NCTV; the Court of Audit; and General Intelligence Service AIVD have raised similar concerns which are in lines with WRR.
