Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, I was not a particularly good student. I am also aware of someone, who, by chance, after attending DCU, now works in the NCSC. I will not make an argument regarding whether he was a good or bad student either.

We have discussed a fair amount. In fairness, the witnesses have put on the record the reality of the world we live in. There are two parts to this. One is the ransomware and financial gain by criminal elements. I have heard of many companies that have paid sizeable amounts of money in this regard - €10,000, €20,000 or €30,000. I am not referring to huge companies, but SMEs. Part of the reason they paid the money is that they did not want news getting out that their systems had been penetrated. This type of criminality is also at times facilitated by rogue states. We can state clearly that Russia, in doing that, provides itself with a subcontractor outfit that can do business for it when required. We know the situation we are in now. We are an IT superpower and that means we are wide open to this sort of stuff happening.

What do we need to do? There are two parts to addressing this issue. We must deal with regular criminal cyberattacks for financial gain. Additionally, we must talk about state actors, cyberespionage and the difficulty involved with the denial of vital services. The worst-case scenario in that context is where cyberattacks transfer to the physical realm. We are accepting the idea here, in respect of protecting ourselves, that we will be fine if everyone operates the best-case digital hygiene. Someone has to co-ordinate that system, however, and be in charge of it. The NCSC has a particular role, but many gaps remain in regard to the threats we are facing. In fairness, Mr. Larkin spoke about how globally, but especially in Ireland, we must get the show on the road concerning workforce planning and ensure we have sufficient people to fill the roles that must be undertaken.

Another issue that goes beyond cybersecurity involves connected networks. Ireland has social media companies that facilitate these networks. This is sometimes the stuff of conspiracy theories, but state actors have the ability to use such networks from a disinformation perspective, which can be part of such actors' hybrid warfare strategies. I ask all the witnesses to comment on all these aspects in the few remaining minutes.