The cybersecurity industry faces a series of challenges such as the propagation of false news and the need to verify the information that is disseminated in the media up to the level of preparation that the INE has, for the 1st of July.
During 2017, Mexico ranked second in cyber attacks in Latin America and currently holds the eighth position among the countries where identity theft occurs the most, according to data from the Condusef and Cybersecurity Ventures shown by Philippe Surman, country manager in Mexico of Reed Exhibitions , the organizing company of the third edition of Infosecurity Mexico, an event that brings together the most recent trends in the computer security industry in the world.
In the face of the Mexican electoral process next July 1, during the conference that was held to announce this series of conferences and exhibitions that will take place on May 23 and 24 at the Citibanamex Center, cybersecurity consultants and experts spoke about the challenges that They face both the institutions and the Mexican society during the current process of the electoral campaigns and the day of the elections .
These challenges range from the spread of false news and the need to verify the information that is disseminated through traditional media, such as radio and television, and digital, such as email and social networks, to the level of preparation in matters of cybersecurity that the Mexican institution responsible for organizing the democratic election process has, the National Electoral Institute (INE).
According to Laura Requena, director of Digital Surveillance of the Spanish cybersecurity company S21sec, the two main objectives of cybercriminals who want to alter or enrarecer social moods in the framework of an election, as what happened in the case of elections Presidential elections of 2016 in the United States or in the referendum by which the decision to leave Great Britain was taken from the European Union, called Bréxit, are to raise doubts about the outcome of the electoral process and also about the government's capacity to guarantee the security of the electronic systems used for the elections.
To generate these doubts, cybercriminals use attack mechanisms such as malicious intrusions, which can lead to substituting the web pages of public institutions such as the INE itself; attacks on the availability of services (DDoS), the publication of sensitive data and the dissemination of false news or fake news .
In this sense, according to Jorge Osorio, CSI's Director of Consulting Services, these techniques also include social engineering, which seeks to manipulate the perception and opinion of people through deception, which can be carried out through phone calls, emails and personally, so this method is not applicable only to the field of the attacks digital but the of the handling social in the world physical .
To counteract these types of actions that undermine democratic processes, Requena recommended that those in charge of guaranteeing the security of information systems conduct monitoring in all corners of the Internet before and after the elections to locate and track to groups and collections of information that seek to delegitimize the votes; as well as strengthening the security systems in accordance with the best international practices and promoting awareness campaigns so that the population knows the risks faced by their vote.
This is precisely the framework in which Infosecurity Mexico 2018 will take place, which will include the presence of an international cybersecurity expert such as José Luis Bolaños, director of Corporate Security at Gas Natural Fenosa; Xabier Mitxelena, founder of S21sec; Arturo García Hernández, director of Security of Information Technologies at Banco de México; Arturo Gómex, director of the Cybersecurity Center of the Federal Police and Kevin Mitnick, who is considered one of the most famous hackers in the world .
The event also has partnerships with national and international organizations, such as ISACA and the EC Council, the Industrial Cybersecurity Center of Spain, the Canieti, Amiti and the Scientific Division of the Federal Police.
This event preview and other relevant information can be found at source.
Source: El Economista
