Digia participates in the TIETO22 cyber security exercise

“Large-scale cyber disruptions endanger society’s ability to function and, at worst, the safety of citizens. A digital society’s preparation and management of cyber disruptions requires cooperation between companies, authorities and other partners”, says Project Manager Antti Nyqvist of the National Emergency Supply Agency’s Digipooli network.

Cyber threats are constantly changing and becoming more complex. This change challenges companies and public administration to continuously test and develop their own preparedness.

This time, the exercise will focus on the financial sector and the services financial sector offers to other sectors and the whole society. The perspective is multidisciplinarity and the effects of industries on each other: the effects of a cyber disruption starting in one sector quickly manifest in society as a whole. It can be difficult to identify in advance the secondary effects of cyber disruptions taking place in one area, as they are seen in another.

“The coronavirus pandemic and the large-scale remote working it brought about have also created new threat potential, which must be prepared for by new means and in real time. Shifting to a permanent hybrid working model challenges organisations to prepare in a new way”, says Head of Secured Solutions Markus Asikainen at Digia.

A nationally unique opportunity for “cyber cross pollination”

Once again, Digia will participate in the TIETO exercise with high expectations. The aim is to practice preparing for and responding to cyber threats from the perspective of both one’s own operations and customer work. Digia has plenty of customers representing both public authorities and private companies that, for various reasons, emphasise particularly high safety standards.

“The exercises provide lessons and experiences that, at best, are useful for several customer companies and authorities. The most important contribution of the exercise is networking and identifying the needs of different cyber areas, as well as ‘competence cross-pollination’. As such a large entity, TIETO22 is a unique opportunity nationally”, Asikainen says.

Asikainen sees Digia playing an important role in sharing good practices from one sector to another, also outside of the TIETO exercises.

“Thanks to the broad customer base, we know the safety practices in different fields. This allows us to provide our customers with external insight and tips on ways to develop cybersecurity in different fields”, Asikainen says.

“An attack on the financial sector highly crippling”

The theme of the exercise is the financial sector. As all industries and society as a whole require smooth payment traffic, for example, cyberattacks on the financial sector can be extremely crippling nationally.

“The raw materials of the financial sector are data and trust, the key production factors of which are secure information systems and processes. Companies operating in the financial sector are constantly competing against ever more rapidly evolving security threats. One of the most critical success factors for financial companies is how cost-effectively, reliably and quickly they can meet changing security requirements”, says Director of Financial Services Sami Vallinkoski of Digia.

The financial sector is a key customer industry for Digia. The Digia Financial Systems product family is one of the largest financial system offerings in the Nordic countries for management companies, asset managers and equity brokers. In addition, Digia produces back office functions for some of its customers as a complete service.

“Through its customer accounts, Digia has significant responsibilities in the industry, and we want to be ready to act as part of the national machinery. We regularly invest a significant amount of work and other resources to ensure that the system solutions and services we provide to companies in the financial sector are always up to the changing security requirements”, Vallinkoski says.

The exercise is organised by National Emergency Supply Agency’s Digipooli network in cooperation with Traficom’s National Cyber Security Centre. The National Emergency Supply Agency is responsible for organising the exercise. In addition to numerous companies and service providers critical to security of supply, the exercise will involve the Finnish Defence Forces, the Finnish Broadcasting Company and the police.

Further information:
Markus Asikainen
Director, Secure Solutions, Digia
Tel. +358 50 462 1259

Sami Vallinkoski
Director, Financial Services, Digia
Tel. +358 40 740 6598

Remember also: Digia Cyber Security 30 March

Digia will organise a Digia Cyber Security event for the senior management, information security managers and IT managers of various organisations on 30 March, where we will discuss information security with Chief Digital Officer Jarkko Karsikas of the Finnish Defence Forces and Information Security Manager Juha Malmivaara of Tampere University. The aim of the event is to share concrete tips with participants on how to apply the teachings of high-security pioneers in any organisation. The event is organised in Finnish. Read more here >>