Turkey fights cyber crimes with own capabilities

ANKARA

Turkey's top defense industry companies, including Aselsan and Havelsan, provide services to fight cyberattacks on institutions and critical infrastructures in the country.

Aselsan develops unique national solutions in the areas of cyber security, information security and cryptology, and carries out original projects aimed at meeting the needs of the public, military and civil sectors and foreign markets, according to the information compiled by Anadolu Agency.

Another defense industry company STM developed CyDecSys -- a domestic and national integrated cyber security support system.

With the adopted methods, cyberattacks can be deeply scanned and tracked down to its source.

Havelsan also provides defense services with its three products -- watch, barrier and shield -- to various institutions.

The watch ensures that the information infrastructure components of the institutions are centrally collected, linked, questioned and alarmed.

The barrier was developed in order to protect the corporate information and data, to use it in accordance with the determined blocking rules and to prevent unauthorized exit or leakage outside the boundaries of the institution.

The shield acts as a web application firewall that can detect and block attacks on web applications, providing load balancing for very high amount of network traffic.

Cyber-crimes take toll on global economy

The economic cost of cyberattacks has reached $600 billion in 2017, 1 full percent of the entire global GDP, according to a recent report.

The report, Economic Impact of Cyber Crime – No Slowing Down, a 2018 report by the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies revealed that countries with the greatest losses are "mid-tier nations" -- those that are digitized but not yet fully capable of securing their own cyberspace.

The report also suggested that cybercriminals choose to attack developed countries’ electronic communications, energy and finance sectors to make higher profits though it is easier to access networks in developing countries.

The U.S., which releases a separate most-wanted list for cyber criminals, has become a major target for hackers and interstate cyberattacks.

Cybercrime is also a major issue in the U.K., with half of all reported crimes are related to cyber issues.

Experts highlight the importance of cyber security in the protection of systems, networks and programs from digital attacks and recommend public-private partnerships to strengthen the regulatory process.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar, Beyza Binnur Donmez