Cloud Hosting

The Director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that artificial intelligence could prove to be a more important development than the internet.

Appearing before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, the director of the NCSC, Dr Richard Browne, said that a year ago he would likely have been warning the committee about the challenges posed by cryptography and the shift to cloud computing.

"All of these are still factors today but are entirely overshadowed by the first public outings of generally available Artificial Intelligence", he told members.

Separately the committee was told of the "largely inconsequential" impact of cyber-attacks in terms of the overall Russian military effort.

Whilst telling TDs and Senators that cyber remains a "key tool in the armoury of any state", Dr Browne added that Ukraine had been prepared for such attacks due to years of "similar offensive actions" and because of "massive external support from public and private sector organisations".

Dr Browne also updated members of the committee on efforts to expand the NCSC.

Following the cyber-attack on the Health Service Executive, a capacity review of the NCSC was launched.

Dr Browne said that the organisation has increased its staff numbers from 25 staff to 52 today, adding that there is scope to grow to 62 this year.

Matt Carthy, Sinn Fin's Foreign Affairs and Defence spokesperson, asked if the NCSC would have concerns about other public bodies that could be vulnerable to cyber-attack.

Dr Browne told members that there were always risks, but that the NCSC acts quickly when issues arise, so at this point he did not have such concerns.

Separately, the committee was told that Government employees are generally advised not to have any applications on their phone that they do not need for business.

"Simply because every single application has some degree of risk", Dr Browne explained.

Following an assessment by the NCSC earlier this year, Government workers were asked to remove the TikTok app from official devices.

Dr Browne told members that the risks posed by different apps are kept under constant review.

More here:
AI could be 'more important development' than internet - RTE.ie