Radio România Internațional

Tag: threats

  • Peace, no longer a certainty in Europe

    Peace, no longer a certainty in Europe

     

     

    Less than 2 weeks from now, Romania will hold the first round of its presidential election, and the campaign remains low-key, limited to predictable speeches and mutual attacks between the candidates. Analysts and commentators deplore the contenders’ almost complete disregard for major topics, such as the war in neighbouring Ukraine and the country’s preparedness for any kind of security challenges.

     

    The military, on the other hand, are not involved in the campaign and are quite familiar with such delicate topics. Moreover, the institution they represent enjoys, unlike political parties, some of the highest public confidence rates.

     

    A little while ago, the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, gen. Gheorghiţă Vlad, warned about the small number of reserved troops that Romania can resort to in case of a conflict, and about loopholes that restrict the armed forces’ response capacity in certain situations. It was a useful public statement, because the authorities set out to address the problems the general mentioned.

     

    On Tuesday, on the celebration of the Armed Forces General Staff, gen. Vlad rang an alarm bell as current security indicators suggest peace is no longer to be taken for granted on the European continent. He mentioned that, in violation of international humanitarian law, the Russian Federation’s moves fuel a negative progression of the likelihood of security risks and threats. According to the military official, a defence crisis is on-going in the Black Sea region, a region of strategic interest for NATO.

     

    The Romanian Army, Vlad emphasised, has reconfigured its defensive architecture. Procedures have been adjusted, the military’s response capability has been recalibrated and structures have been consolidated so as to improve the permanent combat service, air police and vigilance. Early warning and situational awareness capabilities have also be strengthened.

     

    Our defensive capacity, including Euro-Atlantic relations and the Strategic Partnership with the US, remain the vectors of our national deterrence and defence posture in the Black Sea region, and the Armed Forces General Staff plays a vital role in consolidating this posture, Vlad pointed out.

     

    In mid-September, NATO military leaders attending the Alliance’s Military Committee conference in Prague analysed the progress in implementing the defence plans approved in the 2023 Summit. On that occasion, gen. Gheorghiță Vlad said that, considering the developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly evident that a substantial Allied presence is necessary in the Black Sea region and that the region’s relevance must remain a priority on the NATO agenda. Credible and efficient deterrence means earmarking forces and means and ensuring the flexibility of Battle Groups so that, if necessary, they may quickly reach brigade-level organisation, the chief of the Romanian Armed Forces General Staff insisted. (AMP)

  • CSAT and Regional Security

    CSAT and Regional Security

    Romania is directly interested in having on its own territory industrial capabilities that can ensure the output of modern military equipment to fit its armed forces in times of peace as well as in developing new equipment to contribute to the multiplication of its military capabilities in situations of crises and war – this is one of the conclusion of the country’s Higher Defence Council, also known as CSAT. Summoned on Thursday by the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, the CSAT members held talks over the plan of fitting the Romanian armed forces with the right type of equipment and technologies for the following 10 years – 2025-2034 after the major changes in the regional security situation prompted by the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

    According to the CSAT members, raising budget funds for defence is also going to have an effect over Romania’s field industry, which has the opportunity of initiating a process of transformation, streamlining and adjustment by attracting new, state-of-the-art technologies as well as cooperation with field companies of international repute.

    Against the latest developments in Ukraine, the Council also tackled additional measures of deterring and combating security threats to be implemented at national level with support from NATO allies.

    Consolidating the strategic partnership with the Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova was also high on the agenda. Romania again reiterated its support for the European headway made by the small ex-Soviet republic by assisting it in implementing reforms and the required public policies, without neglecting the challenges Chisinau is presently facing against the background of the hybrid threats mounted by the Russian Federation and the war against Ukraine.

    These threats and risks are also having, in most of the cases, implications for Romania. And for this reason, the main objective of Bucharest’s foreign policy, concerning the Republic of Moldova, is supporting and ensuring the irreversibility of its European roadmap on the basis of the bilateral Consolidated Partnership, the Presidential Administration has announced. .

    Last, but not least, the CSAT members analyzed and approved the National Plan of Implementing the Civil Pact in the field of Common Security Policy and Defence as a new one had been endorsed at EU level.

    The pact is aimed at increasing the flexibility and robustness of the civil missions at community level, as well as their reaction speed in the process of handling crises in spite of limited resources.

    According to the Presidential Administration, the document will ease the effectiveness of Romania’s involvement in civil missions in the field of Common Security and Defence Policy, and better capitalize on the Romanian expertise in the field.

    (bill)

  • Challenges in Cybersecurity

    Challenges in Cybersecurity

    The military conflict caused by Russia in neighboring
    Ukraine takes place in cyberspace too. Some researchers are saying that we are
    talking about the biggest war of the cybernetic era, and the most significant
    escalation on both sides.

    Early in the conflict, Moscow launched an impressive
    number of destructive attacks against dozens of Ukrainian networks, managing to
    damage the Viasat satellite network, and cause grief for Ukraine’s defenses. A
    few weeks in, the pace of such attacks went down, and right now, almost a year
    into the war, the main cybernetic activity that Russia carries out in relation
    to Ukraine is intelligence gathering. In addition to challenges caused by the
    war, China’s technological advance, and the pandemic, which moved a lot of
    activities online, are as many reasons for cyberscurity to be more and more of
    a reason for worry.

    In this geopolitical context, with so many uncertainties,
    things are sure to stay the same, with organizations at all levels being more
    and more exposed to the threat of cybercrime. The global costs of cybercrime
    are expected to go up by 15% per year until 2025, and amount to more than 10
    trillion dollars a year, as seen in a report by Cybersecurity Ventures, much
    higher than the cumulative profits of drug trafficking worldwide. The new kinds
    of online fraud will become more elaborate and harder to detect, as computer
    crime perpetrators are moving towards using artificial intelligence tools,
    according to the National Cybersecurity Directorate in Bucharest. The security
    of institutions is under careful care by experts and authorities, but regular
    users are much more exposed, and need assistance to fend off the many kinds of
    attacks they are vulnerable to.

    Among the most widely used fraud attacks for
    stealing personal data are phishing attacks by e-mail, which ask for
    identifying data through spurious offers, the National Cybersecurity
    Directorate in Bucharest warns. At the same time, many misleading messages are
    also disseminated on social media and search engines, as explained for Radio
    Romania by Mihai Rotariu, the head of communication for the directorate, who
    provided a few examples:


    Mihai Rotariu: As we begin this year, we see an increase in attempts at
    online fraud. As usual, the attackers are using the context we are in, and are
    trying to take advantage of commercial discounts associated with winter. More
    to the point, they are launching phishing campaigns using the visual identity
    of popular brands, which are usually more active during this period. We are
    talking about commercial banks, retailers, some online services, and delivery
    services. We have even witnessed fraud attempts using the image of some public
    institutions, such as the police, the fiscal authority, or even Europol. Most
    phishing attacks occur by e-mail, but they can be propagated through social
    media or text messaging, SMS, and the goal of attackers is to harvest personal
    data, be they financial or authentication data, mainly by redirecting the
    potential victim to cloned websites. These are sites that look like the real
    ones, but have a slightly different address, and are in another domain. Which
    is vital to pay careful attention to the name and security status of a websites
    where we use personal data.


    It is no secret that attackers are relying more and more
    on artificial intelligence, enhancing and automating their activities, adapting
    to the context better, and having a better rate of success. However, we should
    not panic, says Mihai Rotariu:


    Mihai Rotariu: If we have cybersecurity routine, and good online
    hygiene, we should not panic, because we can sidestep about 90% of attacks.
    When I am talking about routine, I am referring to forming reflexes when acting
    online, formed just like the ones in real life. For instance, when we cross the
    street, we look right and left and check the traffic light. This is the case
    with links we access too. We don’t click on a link from an unknown source
    before running a check on the source, using a security solution. At the same
    time, we have to know clearly that most companies that offer online services,
    especially banks, would never send e-mails with links for updating or verifying
    authentication data. You should never go to websites for, let’s say, online
    banking through a link sent by SMS or e-mail, or through sponsored ads, you
    should only use the smartphone app. We also recommend you enter the website
    address manually in your Internet browser, taking care not to end up carelessly
    on such cloned sites. You should pay close attention to the exact name of the
    domain, because attackers substitute digits for letters, and if we rush through
    the process we could be fooled into thinking we are on the original site, but
    in fact we are on the cloned site. Last but not least, pay close attention to
    offers online that look too good to be true.


    Mihai Rotariu added that we should always check with the
    company purporting to make the online promotional offers before acting on the
    purchase. (C.C.)

  • Challenges in Cybersecurity

    Challenges in Cybersecurity

    The military conflict caused by Russia in neighboring
    Ukraine takes place in cyberspace too. Some researchers are saying that we are
    talking about the biggest war of the cybernetic era, and the most significant
    escalation on both sides.

    Early in the conflict, Moscow launched an impressive
    number of destructive attacks against dozens of Ukrainian networks, managing to
    damage the Viasat satellite network, and cause grief for Ukraine’s defenses. A
    few weeks in, the pace of such attacks went down, and right now, almost a year
    into the war, the main cybernetic activity that Russia carries out in relation
    to Ukraine is intelligence gathering. In addition to challenges caused by the
    war, China’s technological advance, and the pandemic, which moved a lot of
    activities online, are as many reasons for cyberscurity to be more and more of
    a reason for worry.

    In this geopolitical context, with so many uncertainties,
    things are sure to stay the same, with organizations at all levels being more
    and more exposed to the threat of cybercrime. The global costs of cybercrime
    are expected to go up by 15% per year until 2025, and amount to more than 10
    trillion dollars a year, as seen in a report by Cybersecurity Ventures, much
    higher than the cumulative profits of drug trafficking worldwide. The new kinds
    of online fraud will become more elaborate and harder to detect, as computer
    crime perpetrators are moving towards using artificial intelligence tools,
    according to the National Cybersecurity Directorate in Bucharest. The security
    of institutions is under careful care by experts and authorities, but regular
    users are much more exposed, and need assistance to fend off the many kinds of
    attacks they are vulnerable to.

    Among the most widely used fraud attacks for
    stealing personal data are phishing attacks by e-mail, which ask for
    identifying data through spurious offers, the National Cybersecurity
    Directorate in Bucharest warns. At the same time, many misleading messages are
    also disseminated on social media and search engines, as explained for Radio
    Romania by Mihai Rotariu, the head of communication for the directorate, who
    provided a few examples:


    Mihai Rotariu: As we begin this year, we see an increase in attempts at
    online fraud. As usual, the attackers are using the context we are in, and are
    trying to take advantage of commercial discounts associated with winter. More
    to the point, they are launching phishing campaigns using the visual identity
    of popular brands, which are usually more active during this period. We are
    talking about commercial banks, retailers, some online services, and delivery
    services. We have even witnessed fraud attempts using the image of some public
    institutions, such as the police, the fiscal authority, or even Europol. Most
    phishing attacks occur by e-mail, but they can be propagated through social
    media or text messaging, SMS, and the goal of attackers is to harvest personal
    data, be they financial or authentication data, mainly by redirecting the
    potential victim to cloned websites. These are sites that look like the real
    ones, but have a slightly different address, and are in another domain. Which
    is vital to pay careful attention to the name and security status of a websites
    where we use personal data.


    It is no secret that attackers are relying more and more
    on artificial intelligence, enhancing and automating their activities, adapting
    to the context better, and having a better rate of success. However, we should
    not panic, says Mihai Rotariu:


    Mihai Rotariu: If we have cybersecurity routine, and good online
    hygiene, we should not panic, because we can sidestep about 90% of attacks.
    When I am talking about routine, I am referring to forming reflexes when acting
    online, formed just like the ones in real life. For instance, when we cross the
    street, we look right and left and check the traffic light. This is the case
    with links we access too. We don’t click on a link from an unknown source
    before running a check on the source, using a security solution. At the same
    time, we have to know clearly that most companies that offer online services,
    especially banks, would never send e-mails with links for updating or verifying
    authentication data. You should never go to websites for, let’s say, online
    banking through a link sent by SMS or e-mail, or through sponsored ads, you
    should only use the smartphone app. We also recommend you enter the website
    address manually in your Internet browser, taking care not to end up carelessly
    on such cloned sites. You should pay close attention to the exact name of the
    domain, because attackers substitute digits for letters, and if we rush through
    the process we could be fooled into thinking we are on the original site, but
    in fact we are on the cloned site. Last but not least, pay close attention to
    offers online that look too good to be true.


    Mihai Rotariu added that we should always check with the
    company purporting to make the online promotional offers before acting on the
    purchase. (C.C.)