Speaking at the 2nd e-Safe Cybersecurity Summit, BTK President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan said, “As BTK, we are determined and resolute to enhance all capabilities and resources for our country's cybersecurity in coordination with both our public and private sector stakeholders and international partners.”
BTK President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan participated in the 2nd e-Safe Cybersecurity Summit via teleconference. The summit, hosted by BTK, was attended by e-Safe Founder Musa Savaş, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Galip Zerey, Radio and Television Supreme Council Member Taha Yücel, IT experts, lawyers, representatives from public institutions and organizations, and the sector.
Sayan began his remarks by expressing his satisfaction that the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, which houses our country's National Cyber Incident Response Center, is hosting the e-Safe Cybersecurity Summit.
WE SHOULD BE LEADING DEVELOPMENTS
Stating that information technologies are the locomotive for the development of all sectors, Sayan said, “Countries that understand well and lead this period, also known as Industry 4.0, will increase their economic and social welfare levels on one hand, while becoming leading countries that shape global developments on the other. In this regard, in line with the 2023 targets set by our President, Turkey must continue its efforts to join the ranks of countries that lead developments rather than just following them.”
USOM HAS BECOME A BRAND
Reminding that BTK continues its activities to ensure national cybersecurity, Sayan said, “As BTK, under the cybersecurity organization established in 2013, we continue to fulfill our cybersecurity duties in the best possible way. As a result of these efforts, USOM is increasingly becoming a brand and continues to perform important functions for the development of our country's cybersecurity ecosystem. USOM conducts alarm, warning, and notification activities to prevent cyber threats; takes control by intervening on-site in critical situations; and ensures national coordination in cyber incident response. USOM, equipped with malware analysis and digital forensics capabilities, has achieved significant gains in employing and training specialized personnel in this area. Activities such as incident response, digital log examination, and penetration testing conducted by USOM personnel in numerous critical organizations have gained momentum.”
WE LAUNCHED THE SOME COMMUNICATION PLATFORM
Explaining that the SIP (SOME Communication Platform) Project, which enables secure and rapid sharing of cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks between USOM and SOME teams, was launched in 2017 and is actively in use, Sayan said, “Currently, 1,970 registered cybersecurity experts are using the SIP system. USOM, which operates in coordination with stakeholders such as public institutions, internet actors, international organizations, judicial authorities, law enforcement, research centers, universities, and the private sector, receives notifications from many different countries, which are forwarded to the relevant parties to ensure necessary measures are taken. USOM is a member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), Trusted Introducers (TI), and ITU-IMPACT organizations. Within the framework of ongoing efforts, it also became a member of the international organization Cyber Alliance for Mutual Progress (CAMP) in 2017, and BTK-USOM was selected to the Operations Committee of this organization. Recently, information flow from NATO threat-sharing platforms has also been integrated into our institution.”
CYBER ATTACKS INCREASED 11-FOLD IN 2017
Emphasizing that USOM sent official cybersecurity notifications to nearly 1,550 institutions/organizations/businesses in 2017, Sayan said: “In 2017, 1,567 vulnerability notifications that were critical and required urgent action were made to institutions and organizations; additionally, more than 1,500 vulnerabilities were detected in their internet-facing services and forwarded to the relevant parties along with recommended measures. 8,059 malicious links (URL, IP, domain) used for malware and phishing were detected, checked, and blocked at the infrastructure level. This figure was 490 up to 2017, but in 2017, there was an approximately 16-fold increase in the number of announced malicious links compared to the total of previous years. Additionally, the total number of attacks reported to USOM by electronic communications operators in 2017 was 99,600. The number of attacks in 2015 was 1,489, while 8,625 attacks were reported in 2016. Accordingly, cyber attacks increased 11-fold compared to the previous year in 2017. Looking at the last two years, in addition to an increase in the number and size of cyber attacks, we are facing more sophisticated attacks in terms of quality.”
WE SHOULD BE A HARD TARGET AGAINST CYBER ATTACKS
Emphasizing that BTK uses artificial intelligence capabilities in projects to combat cyber threats, Sayan said, “In particular, our applications named AVCI, AZAD, and KASIRGA are actively used to detect malware command servers, compromised systems, and systems infected with malware, and are being further developed for more sophisticated analyses. I must particularly emphasize that the cyber world is an area where cyber attacks can occur at any moment. Therefore, our biggest goal is to show that we are a hard target against cyber attacks. Cybersecurity is a national security issue. The aim of those carrying out these attacks is not just to disrupt communication infrastructure but to threaten life by targeting critical systems holistically. With this awareness, we are working to increase awareness on this matter.”
WE ARE DETERMINED AND RESOLUTE TO ENHANCE OUR CYBERSECURITY
Saying “As BTK, we are at the heart, brain, and even the veins of this matter,” Sayan continued: “Since the communication infrastructure passes through us, we know we will protect it against external threats together with our operators through the measures we take. At this point, operational efforts regarding national cybersecurity are carried out in an environment where 7/24, real-time and daily operational activities are conducted alongside long-term projects. As BTK, we are determined and resolute to enhance all capabilities and resources for our country's cybersecurity in coordination with both our public and private sector stakeholders and international partners.”
Sayan concluded his speech by congratulating everyone who contributed to the event and wishing the summit to be productive.
In his opening speech at the summit, Galip Zerey, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, who touched upon the importance of local solutions and trained human resources in the sector, said, "As the Ministry, we attach great importance to cybersecurity. We have a cybersecurity strategy and action plan, and we follow up on the work as the ministry. BTK's USOM unit is also conducting serious work in this field."
Emphasizing that e-Safe's aim is to focus on local problems in cybersecurity, e-Safe Founder Musa Savaş said, "In the field of cybersecurity, we have focused mainly on how to close the gap in cybersecurity human resources that our country needs. Our sole aim is to address our country's human resource needs in cybersecurity."
The summit continued throughout the day with sessions titled "The Weakest Link in Cybersecurity: Humans and Social Engineering," "The Role and Importance of Cyber Intelligence for Public Security," "Signals Intelligence and Mobile Espionage," "Behind the Scenes of the Web," "Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure," "Legal Regulations Regarding the Establishment of SOMEs," and others, prepared by IT experts, lawyers, and relevant parties from public institutions and organizations.